Spanish B2.16 Listening Practice: Positive Command Shortcuts
Listen to a B2 Spanish dialogue about positive command shortcuts, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
B2.16
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
24 segments
A short Spanish listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 8: add positive commands and let-us forms to what you already control, then say one short answer that reuses earlier Spanish instead of starting from a memorized phrase.
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1. Carmen · Teacher
Welcome to ChickyTutor! I'm Carmen. Today we are looking at positive command shortcuts, like quick direct imperatives and let-us forms that help you speak Spanish naturally.
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2. Diego · Student
Hi Carmen! I'm Diego. I always get confused about where pronouns go when giving commands.
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3. Carmen · Teacher
They attach right to the end! Let me show you. Listen to Álvaro and Lucía planning their work.
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4. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Lucía, si queremos entregar el proyecto hoy, dame la información que falta.
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5. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Espera, Álvaro, todavía estoy revisando los últimos gráficos.
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6. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
Vale, esperemos diez minutos a que termines y tomamos una decisión.
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7. Lucía · Native Speaker 2
Trato hecho, dame un minuto para guardar los cambios en la carpeta compartida.
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8. Álvaro · Native Speaker 1
De acuerdo, preparemos un resumen rápido y enviemos la propuesta antes de comer.
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9. Carmen · Teacher
Let's break that down. In the first sentence, Álvaro said: 'Lucía, si queremos entregar el proyecto hoy, dame la información que falta.' He uses 'dame', combining the verb command 'da' with the pronoun 'me'.
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10. Diego · Student
Is attaching the pronoun to the end required for all positive commands?
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11. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, in Spanish, affirmative commands always attach object pronouns directly to the end of the verb.
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12. Carmen · Teacher
In the second sentence, Lucía answered: 'Espera, Álvaro, todavía estoy revisando los últimos gráficos.' Here, 'espera' is the informal affirmative command for 'wait'.
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13. Diego · Student
Why is it 'espera' and not 'esperas' if she's speaking to Álvaro informally?
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14. Carmen · Teacher
Informal positive commands drop the final 's', so they look identical to the third-person singular present tense.
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15. Carmen · Teacher
Sentence three: Álvaro said: 'Vale, esperemos diez minutos a que termines y tomamos una decisión.' Here 'esperemos' translates to 'let's wait'.
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16. Diego · Student
So 'esperemos' comes from the 'nosotros' present subjunctive?
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17. Carmen · Teacher
Exactly. The 'nosotros' present subjunctive form is how you express 'let's do something' in Spanish.
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18. Carmen · Teacher
Sentence four contains our challenge phrase: 'Trato hecho, dame un minuto para guardar los cambios en la carpeta compartida.'
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19. Diego · Student
Is 'dame un minuto' informal?
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20. Carmen · Teacher
Yes, because 'dame' uses the informal 'tú' form. For formal situations, you would say 'deme un minuto'.
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21. Carmen · Teacher
Finally, in sentence five, Álvaro said: 'De acuerdo, preparemos un resumen rápido y enviemos la propuesta antes de comer.'
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22. Diego · Student
Are both 'preparemos' and 'enviemos' examples of the let-us form?
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23. Carmen · Teacher
Spot on! 'Preparemos' means 'let's prepare' and 'enviemos' means 'let's send'.
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24. Carmen · Teacher
Great work! Practice using positive commands like 'dame', 'espera', and 'esperemos' to give quick, assertive Spanish responses.
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