The Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) of Detener is used to give direct orders or instructions to stop or halt an action, for example Detén el coche. (Stop the car.)

Detener is an irregular verb, meaning its conjugation follows a unique pattern that deviates from the standard rules.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Detener (to stop) in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) tense (Castilian Spanish):

Detener generally means to stop, halt or detain something or someone, but has several different meanings in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands), some of which might surprise you.

To stop an action: For example, ¡Detén eso ahora mismo! (Stop that right now!)

To halt movement: For example, ¡Deteneos! (Stop/Halt!) (using ‘vosotros’ form)

To detain someone: For example, ¡Detenedlo! (Detain him!) (using ‘vosotros’ form)

To pause or interrupt: For example, ¡Detén la música un momento! (Stop the music for a moment!)

Colloquially, to calm down: For example, ¡Detente ya, tío! (Calm down already, dude!)

Rudely, to tell someone to shut up: For example, ¡Detente de una vez! (Shut up already!)

Examples

Examples of Detener in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands)

¡Detén el coche! (Stop the car!)

Niños, detengamos el juego por ahora y vayamos a cenar. (Kids, let’s stop the game for now and go have dinner.)

Señor, le pido que detenga su comportamiento inapropiado. (Sir, I ask that you stop your inappropriate behavior.)

Amigos, detened la discusión y hablemos con calma. (Friends, stop the argument and let’s talk calmly.)

Compañeros, detengan el trabajo por hoy. Mañana continuaremos. (Colleagues, stop the work for today. We’ll continue tomorrow.)

¡Detén ese chisme antes de que se salga de control! (Stop that gossip before it gets out of hand!)

Equipo, detengamos la reunión por un momento. Necesito aclarar algo. (Team, let’s stop the meeting for a moment. I need to clarify something.)

Muchachos, detened esa broma pesada. Ya es suficiente. (Guys, stop that mean prank. That’s enough.)

Todos, detengan lo que están haciendo y presten atención. (Everyone, stop what you’re doing and pay attention.)

¡Detén ese comportamiento inmaduro de una vez! (Stop that immature behavior once and for all!)

Familia, detengamos esta discusión sin sentido. Hablemos con respeto. (Family, let’s stop this senseless argument. Let’s speak respectfully.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Detener (to stop) in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperative mood is also known as the Command Form, Affirmative Command Mood, or Direct Command Form in English, and as Modo Imperativo, Imperativo Afirmativo, Mandatos Afirmativos, or Forma de Mandato in Spanish.