Does the Spanish 'we' imperative exist? RAE vs AI

The controversy over the first-person plural imperative: RAE vs AI

Spanish grammar is more of a battleground than it might seem. The latest trench: the first-person plural of the imperative. While the Real Academia Española (Spain's official language authority) denies its existence and points to the subjunctive, artificial intelligence models answer without hesitation that yes, "vamos" or "comamos" are imperatives. Who is right?

The RAE's verdict and the AI's answer

The RAE holds that there is no specific imperative form for "we"; instead, the first-person plural of the present subjunctive is used. Thus, "vayamos" and "comamos" would be subjunctives with an exhortative use. However, the AI consulted asserts that it does exist, arguing that its function is to make suggestions or invitations that include the speaker, and cites everyday examples such as "¡Vamos!" or "¡Comamos!". The divergence is no small matter: it affects how we understand conjugation and the teaching of Spanish.

Real-world usage: from the infinitive to ellipsis

Beyond theory, speakers already do whatever suits them. The use of the infinitive instead of the imperative has become normalized in urban contexts —"No fumar" (no smoking) instead of "No fumad"— and set phrases like "Agradecer a todos" (thanks to everyone) reveal a tendency not to conjugate. In Italian, by the way, all three forms (indicative, subjunctive and imperative) coincide in the first-person plural, without anyone disputing it. The RAE seems to defend a purity that the average speaker has already eroded. Far from being a playful debate, the issue reveals how living language drifts away from the academic code.