Ve vs Vayas/ Vaya

Question

I have come across the word ve a few times being translated as "go", as in a command "go!".

One example is : "ve y buscate una tonta"

I hence conclude that in these instances ve must come from "ir",. If it is a command then it should therefore be the subjunctive for "ir" no? But i cant find the word "ve" anywhere in the verb conjugation table for ir. I assumed it would perhaps be the subjunctive for "ir" tu form, but the subjunctive for ir tu form is "vayas"

Is ve another way of saying vayas or have i got this completely wrong? if so what does ve mean and why isnt it in the table conjugation table for ir.

PS once again, i am not reffering to ve when it is the el/ ella/ usted form of ver, but when it means "go!" as in the above sentence

Gracias

Answer 1

Hey ,I think you are a little bit confused. Because ve is not a conjugated form of the verb ver it's the imperative form of the verb ir so; "¡Ve y buscate una tonta!" means Go and find yourself a stupid! , on the other hand , vaya/vayas is the subjunctive form of the verb ir. Also, you can use it when you give negative orders.

"¡No te vayas!" : Don't go!

or as subjunctive :

"No quiero que mi novio se vaya a Holanda..." : I don't want my boyfriend to go to Holland...

I hope this helps you

Edit:

Imperative means to give orders, it's not another tense but it has its own conjugation.. Yes , you can use subjunctibe to give orders but it's more formal. So generally, "el imperativo" is used to give positive orders..

Answer 2

Thanks for that. I knew Ve y buscate una tonta!" means Go and find yourself a stupid! but was confused as to why Ve was used because i didnt see it in the conjugation tables.

What is this "imperative tense"? God not another tense I thought the subjunctive tense was used to give commands. Does this imperative tense do the same?

I edited my post ;) - culé, Sep 6, 2010

Answer 3

Usually the subjunctive form of a verb is used as the imperative, but not always. In several cases the 2nd person familiar singular positive imperative is irregular. This is one of those cases. As dugu3b said, ve does come from ir, and it is the 2nd person familiar singular positive imperative. You use the 2nd person subjunctive, vayas, as the negative imperative:

¡Ve! = Go!
¡No vayas! = Don't go!

This is covered in lessons 2.12 and 2.13.

Answer 4

Conjugation table for "ir", lower right hand corner in the box labeled "imperative". Formal commands (usted/uestedes) employ the subjunctive form (as do informal negative commands [prohibitions]). Positive informal commands (tú/vosotros) do not use the subjunctive.