This lesson is about the German imperative. You will learn when and how to use the imperative, as well as all irregularities and the word order that applies for sentences in imperative form.
The Imperative
The imperative is used for demands and commands.
Someone is personally talking to one or more people.
The imperative only exists in the „you“ forms: du, ihr, and the polite Sie.
Examples:
- „Geh jetzt ins Bett!“ (Du – Form)
- „Geht bitte einkaufen!“ (Ihr – Form)
- „Gehen Sie nach Hause!“ (Sie – Form)
Construction: Imperative
Polite Form:
In the polite form, the imperative is constructed with the infinitive + Sie.
- „Gehen Sie nach Hause!“
Plural „ihr“:
In the plural form, we use the conjugated present tense of the verb without the pronoun.
- „Geht (
ihr) nach Hause!“
Singular „du“:
In the singular form, we use the conjugated form without the ending and leave out the pronoun.
- „Geh(
st) (du) nach Hause!“
Irregularities: Construction (Only du-form)
The vowel change in strong verbs from „e“ to „i/ie“ is also done in the imperative form. The vowel change from „a“ to „ä“ is not.
- „Hilf deinem Bruder!“ („du hilfst“)
- „Fahr langsamer!“ („du fährst“)
To sound more polite or speak more formally, we can also add an „e“ to the end of the verb.
- „Geh(e) nach Hause.“
If the verb stem ends in „d“/ „t“ or „m“ / “n“, we MUST add an „e“ to the end.
- „Warte noch 5 Minuten!“
Imperative Construction of Separable Verbs
Separable verbs are also separated in the imperative form.
The prefix goes to the end of the sentence.
- „Kommen Sie bitte mit!“ – mitkommen
- „Räumt euer Zimmer auf!“ – aufräumen
- „Hol deine Mutter ab!“ – abholen
Exceptions:
There are almost no irregular verbs in the imperative form. Only these exceptions:
| sein | |||
| haben | |||
| werden |
Word Order: Imperative
The imperative form is always in position 1.
There is only a subject in the polite form („Sie“).
| Position 1 | |
|---|---|
| Geh | sofort nach Hause! |
| Geht | sofort nach Hause! |
| Gehen | Sie sofort nach Hause! |
More General Info about Imperative
Warning: When spoken quickly and loudly, the imperative is always impolite and unfriendly!
The words „bitte“ or „bitte mal“ make the sentence more polite and friendlier
- „Geh bitte mal in den Supermarkt.“
- „Hol mich bitte am Bahnhof ab.“
If you aren´t really mad at somebody you always should use “bitte” together with the imperative form. Without “bitte” people will definitely perceive it as rude and unfriendly.
If you wanna know how to say things in a polite way go to lesson Subjunctive 2.
Further Information
- Most of the rules in imperative correspond to the rules of present tense. Especially the rules for compound verbs and the strong verbs.
- The imperative is always perceived as impolite. To address the people in a polite way use the Subjunctive 2.
Do you like EasyDeutsch?
Use the comments under each lesson for feedback! I love feedback! Also if you think I could do better... I want to know it! And if you like it I am glad and hope that I can continue to help you with hints, advice and simple explanations in the future as well. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I will share daily exercises as well as helpful links with you. If you subscribe to my Youtube-Channel you can practise your listening and writing skills with dictations.
[easy-social-like facebook="true" facebook_url="https://www.facebook.com/EasyDeutsch" twitter_follow="true" twitter_follow_user="EasyDeutsch" google_follow="true" google_follow_url="https://plus.google.com/b/103119812796307817812" youtube="true" youtube_chanel="UCluY2ph0_l4rwlYEz_xHM6g" pinterest_pin="true" skin="flat" counters=0 align="left"]Get all the updates and my famous articles secret straight to you mailbox! Subscribe to the EasyDeutsch Newsletter:
[thrive_leads id='6616']If you like it, I am sure your friends will like it as well! Share EasyDeutsch with them and learn together!
Wishing you success and happy learning,
Jan
