Kitchen Spanish: the imperative and the impersonal se
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. The first is the command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. The second is the impersonal se: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua, se remueve. A cookbook will throw both at you, sometimes within one paragraph. For example: “Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sartén” — Peel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan. A rule from the…
How it works
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. The first is the command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. The second is the impersonal se: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua, se remueve. A cookbook will throw both at you, sometimes within one paragraph.
The tú command is taken from the third person of the present — the simplest rule in Spanish grammar: hablas → habla, comes → come, añades → añade. Eight verbs do it their own way, and all eight are short: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven.
The negative command is built completely differently — through subjuntivo, and that is the trap. Añade sal, but no añadas sal; pon la tapa, but no pongas la tapa. The form changes wholesale; it does not simply grow a 'no' in front.
For vosotros the command is made by swapping the infinitive's final -r for -d: añadid, poned, venid. In everyday Spain people often just use the infinitive — ¡venir aquí! — but in writing that counts as a mistake.
Pronouns attach to an affirmative command at the end, as one word: caliéntalo, pásamelo, pruébalos. An accent appears, because the stress stays on its old syllable. In a negative command they move to the front instead: no lo calientes.
The impersonal se says the same thing with no addressee: aquí se come muy bien, se tarda diez minutos, ¿cómo se dice esto?. The verb agrees with the thing: se pela la cebolla, but se pelan las patatas. It is exactly in this form that every sign and every instruction in the language is written.
Table
| form | affirmative | negative | with a pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|
| tú | añade | no añadas | añádelo |
| usted | añada | no añada | añádalo |
| vosotros | añadid | no añadáis | añadidlo |
| ustedes | añadan | no añadan | añádanlo |
| tú (irregular) | pon, haz, ten, ven | no pongas, no hagas | ponlo, hazlo |
| impersonal | se añade | no se añade | — |
By example
- Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sarténPeel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan
- No añadas la sal al principio, se pone duraDon't add the salt at the start — it goes tough
- Primero se baten los huevos y luego se añade la cebollaFirst the eggs are beaten, and then the onion is added
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Kitchen Spanish: how does it work in Spanish?
A recipe can be written two ways, and Spanish uses both. The first is the command: pela las patatas, añade agua, remueve. The second is the impersonal se: se pelan las patatas, se añade agua, se remueve. A cookbook will throw both at you, sometimes within one paragraph.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Pela las patatas, córtalas finas y ponlas en la sartén” — Peel the potatoes, slice them thin and put them in the pan. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.