What is the imperative?
With the imperative you give direct requests, instructions or advice. You use it for:
We distinguish forms for du, ihr and Sie. The verb always comes first.
A simple "bitte" (please) makes the imperative immediately more polite: Komm bitte später! (Come a bit later, please!) That sounds very different from a bare Komm!
Imperative: du form
For the du form you take the present tense form and drop the ending -st and the pronoun du.
| Infinitive | Present (du) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| kommen | du kommst | Komm! |
| machen | du machst | Mach! |
| helfen | du hilfst | Hilf! |
| lesen | du liest | Lies! |
| gehen | du gehst | Geh! |
With verbs that have a vowel change (e → i, e → ie), the change stays in the imperative: helfen → Hilf!, lesen → Lies! With umlaut verbs, the umlaut drops: fahren → Fahr!, laufen → Lauf!
Irregular form: sein → Sei!
Imperative: ihr form
For the ihr form you use the normal present tense form without the pronoun.
Imperative: Sie form
The formal form is especially important at work and with people you don't know. Here we need the personal pronoun. It comes directly after the verb.
Irregular form: sein → Seien Sie ruhig! (Please be quiet!)
wir form: making suggestions
With infinitive + wir you make suggestions that include yourself.
Prohibitions and polite alternatives
Prohibitions with nicht
For a prohibition you put "nicht" directly after the verb. Where exactly "nicht" goes is shown on the Position of nicht page.
Polite alternatives
A direct imperative can sometimes sound harsh. In everyday life softer forms are more common. The most popular alternatives use modal verbs like können or forms of the Konjunktiv II like könnten and würden.
In formal situations they are almost always the better choice.
Exercises
Test your knowledge of the imperative with three exercise parts.
Form the imperative (du)
Write the du imperative form of the verb.
du, ihr or Sie?
Who is this imperative for?
Request or prohibition?
Is this a request or a prohibition?