Toman or Tomen?

Question

¿Por qué no ________ ustedes asiento? No nos es muy cómodo conversar de pie.

Toman or tomen?

With present tense or modo imperativo?

Good question, melissa. - webdunce, Jan 21, 2011

Thanks. - zhmelissa, Jan 21, 2011

Answer 1

¿Por qué no toman (ustedes) asiento? Present tense.

¿Cuántas copas se tomaron (ustedes)? Preterit.

It's not an order (no imperativo); it's an event that is happened now. (Using the first one, your example).

Answer 2

My guess is that as you are asking a question it can not be imperative, i.e. an order.

I can imagine a tough guy in English posing an order as a question, in this case it would be imperative but then I don't think you'd use a question mark and the lack thereof and understanding of the character would tell you that it was a menacing statement and therefore an order.

I don't know whether you could say 'Por qué no tomen ustedes asiento.' in the same vein in Spanish...