Imperatives in German (der Imperativ)
In this lesson, you will learn the imperatives in German (der Imperativ).
Imperatives in German
An imperative is a form of the verb used when giving orders and Instructions. Three different imperative verb forms of the imperative are used to give instructions or orders to someone in the German language:
➡️ du : you (singular)
➡️ ihr : you (plural)
➡️ Sie : you (formal)
In German, most verbs form imperative like in Table 1.1:
| du | verb stem (+ e) |
| ihr | verb stem + t |
| Sie | verb stem + en + Sie |
❗ If you know the verb conjugation in the present tense, you can easily make imperatives in German.
| Pronouns | machen | imperative | warten | imperative |
| ich | mache | – | warte | – |
| du | machst | mach(e)! | wartest | warte! |
| er/sie/es | macht | – | wartet | – |
| wir | machen | – | warten | – |
| ihr | macht | macht! | wartet | wartet! |
| sie | machen | – | warten | – |
| Sie | machen | machen Sie! | warten | warten Sie! |
▶️ du: take the regular “du”-conjugation of the verb and remove its ending “-st”; remove the personal pronoun du, for example, “gehen ➡️ du gehst ➡️ Imperativ: geh!”.
❗ But not where the verb stem ends, for example, in “chn-, fn-, tm-.” In such cases, the “-e” is kept to make the imperative easier to pronounce, for example, “öffnen ➡️ du öffnest ➡️ Imperativ: öffne!”.
▶️ ihr: take the regular “ihr”-conjugation of the verb; remove the personal pronoun “ihr”, for example, “gehen ➡️ Ihr geht ➡️ Imperativ: geht!”
▶️ Sie: take the regular “Sie” conjugation of the verb; put “Sie” after the verb, for example, “gehen ➡️ Imperativ: gehen Sie!”.
❗ If you express a polite request, you can add the word “bitte” (please) after the imperative form, for example, “Kauft bitte Milch.”
❗ Any vowel change in the present tense of a strong verb also occurs in the “du” form of its imperative, and the “-e” is not added.
| pronouns | helfen | imperative |
| ich | helfe | – |
| du | hilfst | hilf! |
| er/sie/es | hilft | – |
| wir | helfen | – |
| ihr | helft | helft! |
| sie | helfen | – |
| Sie | helfen | helfen Sie! |
▶️ du: take the irregular “du”-conjugation of the verb and remove its ending “-st”; remove the personal pronoun du, for example, “nehmen ➡️ du nimmst ➡️ Imperativ: nimm!”.
▶️ ihr: take the irregular “ihr”-conjugation of the verb; remove the personal pronoun “ihr”, for example, “nehmen ➡️ Ihr nehmt ➡️ Imperativ: nehmt!”
▶️ Sie: take the irregular “Sie” conjugation of the verb; put “Sie” after the verb, for example, “nehmen ➡️ Imperativ: nehmen Sie!”.
❗ However, if this vowel change in the present tense involves adding an umlaut (a, o, u ➡️ ä, ö, ü), this umlaut is not added to the “du” form of the imperative.
| pronouns | fahren | imperatives |
| ich | fahre | – |
| du | fährst | fahr(e)! |
| er/sie/es | fährt | – |
| wir | fahren | – |
| ihr | fahrt | fahrt! |
| sie | fahren | – |
| Sie | fahren | fahren Sie! |
▶️ du: take the regular “du”-conjugation of the verb and remove its ending “-st”; remove the personal pronoun du, for example, “laufen ➡️ du laufst ➡️ Imperativ: lauf(e)!”.
▶️ ihr: take the regular “ihr”-conjugation of the verb; remove the personal pronoun “ihr”, for example, “laufen ➡️ Ihr lauft ➡️ Imperativ: lauft!”
▶️ Sie: take the regular “Sie” conjugation of the verb; put “Sie” after the verb, for example, “laufen ➡️ Imperativ: laufen Sie!”.
The imperative form of a reflexive verb
The reflexive Pronoun comes immediately after the verb. For example, the verb “sich setzen” (to sit down):
| Pronouns | Imperative |
|---|---|
| du | setz dich! sit down! |
| ihr | setz euch! sit down! |
| Sie | setzen Sie sich! sit down! |
The imperative form of a separable verb
The separable verbs use the same form when in imperative. The prefix is separated from the verb and is placed at the end of the clause in imperatives.
| pronouns | aufmachen | imperatives |
| ich | mache auf | – |
| du | machst auf | mach(e) auf! |
| er/sie/es | macht auf | – |
| wir | machen auf | – |
| ihr | macht auf | macht auf! |
| sie | machen auf | – |
| Sie | machen auf | machen Sie auf! |
