The Imperative

The imperative is used for giving commands. Four forms of the imperative are essential! Three of them are the 2nd person forms connected with du, ihr, and Sie. The fourth is the 1st person plural form of 'let us...'.

The 2nd person singular adds -e to the stem of weak verbs and most strong verbs.

The 2nd person plural is the same as the ihr form of the present tense, without the ihr. It ends in 't'.

The 2nd person polite form is the same as the Sie form of the present tense with the Sie written after the verb.

The 1st person plural form is like the wir form of the present tense, similarly inverted.

When written all form require an exclamation mark to indicate that it is the imperative that is being used.

spielen, to play:

du form: Spiele! Play!

ihr form: Spielt! Play!

Sie form: Spielen Sie! Play!

wir form: Spielen wir! Let us play!

trinken, to drink:

du form: Trinke! Drink!

ihr form: Trinkt! Drink!

Sie form: Trinken Sie! Drink!

wir form: Trinken wir! Let us drink!

The -e of the familiar form singular is dropped in strong verbs where the stem vowel changes from e to i or i to e, as in the present tense.

So...

geben, to give:

Gib mir das Buch! Give me the book!

Gebt mir das Buch! Give me the book!

Geben Sie mir das Buch! Give me the book!

Geben wir ihm das Buch! Let us give him the book!

Steh auf! Get up!

Geh weg! Go away!

Komm schnell! Come quickly!

Lies das Buch! Read the book!