Instructions with the imperative

01 / Understand

Choose the audience before the verb form

German has different imperative patterns for one person addressed with du, several people addressed with ihr, and a person or group addressed formally with Sie. Decide which relationship fits the situation before forming the verb. A recipe shared with a friend, directions to a group, and a request at a reception desk can describe the same action with different forms. The difference is grammatical address, not whether the action is easy or difficult.

An imperative directly invites, requests, or instructs someone to act. Its social effect depends on context, wording, and tone. Komm bitte herein. can be a friendly invitation, while a short urgent instruction can be appropriate when speed matters. Do not label every imperative rude. Equally, adding bitte does not make any demand appropriate in every relationship. Use the form that matches your audience and provide enough context for the listener to understand the intended action and its purpose.

02 / Understand

Build the singular informal imperative

For many verbs, the du imperative uses the stem without the ordinary st ending and normally omits du: komm from kommen, mach from machen, and lern from lernen. A final e is possible with many verbs, producing forms such as komme, though the shorter form is common in conversation. Do not create an imperative by keeping the entire present tense sentence du kommst and simply adding an exclamation mark.

Some stems normally need or strongly favor the final e, especially useful everyday forms such as warte and antworte. Learn these as complete spoken forms. The infinitive alone is not a universal singular informal command: Warten! can occur as an impersonal instruction, but Warte bitte hier. directly addresses one friend in the pattern practiced here. A clear request for a particular address form should use that form rather than switching to a different construction that happens to resemble it.

03 / Understand

Learn frequent irregular singular forms

Several common verbs change their vowel in the singular informal imperative. Useful forms include gib from geben, nimm from nehmen, iss from essen, and sprich from sprechen. These are not formed by merely deleting st from a regular stem. Learn each with an object or short phrase so that it is immediately usable: Nimm den Bus. or Sprich bitte langsam. The instruction still needs the complements selected by its action verb.

Do not import every present tense vowel change into the imperative. Du fährst gives fahr, and du läufst gives lauf; the umlaut does not remain in these imperative forms. The verb sein has the important irregular singular imperative sei, as in Sei vorsichtig. This lesson focuses on a small set of high frequency forms instead of asking you to predict every irregular verb from one shortcut. When unsure, check the imperative specifically, rather than assuming the second person present form is enough.

04 / Understand

Use ihr and Sie forms accurately

For several familiar listeners, use the ordinary present ihr verb form without the pronoun: kommt, wartet, and nehmt. Kommt bitte um acht. addresses a group informally. The plural imperative does not copy the singular vowel change in nimm; it is nehmt. The irregular plural form of sein is seid. Keeping the audience visible in a short note beside your draft can prevent a sentence from accidentally changing between one friend and several friends.

For formal address, use the verb followed by Sie: Warten Sie bitte hier. The pronoun remains and is capitalized. The special form of sein is Seien Sie vorsichtig. This formal pattern works for one listener or more than one. Do not infer singular agreement from the number of people physically present. A related inclusive suggestion uses wir, as in Gehen wir!, meaning “Let’s go.” It includes the speaker and therefore has a different participant structure from an instruction addressed only to listeners.

05 / Understand

Keep separable prefixes and reflexive pronouns

A separable prefix goes at the end of the ordinary imperative clause: Ruf mich bitte an. The finite imperative is ruf, and an completes the action. With formal address, write Rufen Sie mich bitte an. Other sentence material can fit between the two verb parts, but the prefix must not disappear. Start from the complete dictionary verb anrufen and check that both pieces are still present after you build the instruction.

Reflexive pronouns match the intended listener. Use Beeil dich! for one friend, Beeilt euch! for several friends, and Beeilen Sie sich! for formal address. A reflexive command still requires the pronoun even though du or ihr is usually absent. With a body part construction, case still matters: Wasch dir die Hände. uses dative dir because the hands are the direct object. The omitted subject is understood from the imperative form, and that understood subject controls the reflexive reference.

06 / Understand

Negate the action without changing its grammar

To tell someone not to perform an action, include nicht in the appropriate place: Öffne die Tür nicht. or Ruf mich heute nicht an. The separable prefix still remains at the end in the second example. If the instruction negates an indefinite noun phrase, use the appropriate form of kein: Mach keinen Lärm. The imperative does not create a new negation system. Preserve the same noun phrase and action distinctions used in ordinary German statements.

An instruction may also be phrased as a modal statement or question. Sie dürfen hier nicht rauchen. explicitly states a prohibition. Könnten Sie bitte draußen warten? makes a polite request through a different construction. These alternatives are useful, but they do not change the forms of the imperative itself. When comparing sentences, separate grammatical form from social purpose. A direct imperative, a modal question, and a written notice can all guide someone’s behavior while expressing different levels of directness and different relationships to a rule.

07 / Understand

Read signs and sequence practical instructions

Public instructions often use an infinitive without a named addressee, such as Bitte nicht berühren. This is an impersonal instruction and should be recognized as a different pattern from Berühre das bitte nicht. addressed to one friend. Signs are compressed because the physical setting supplies much of the context. In a personal message, adding the object or location may be necessary. Do not copy a fragment from a sign into a conversation if the listener cannot tell what action or object it refers to.

For several steps, keep the address form consistent and give them in a usable order: Öffnen Sie die Datei. Prüfen Sie die Nummer. Speichern Sie die Änderung. A reason can follow when it helps the listener: Warte bitte hier, weil der Raum noch geschlossen ist. Review an instruction by imagining the action it would cause. Is the object clear, does the listener know when to act, and does the negative word prohibit the intended action? Accurate forms matter because a small omission can reverse what someone is asked to do.

See it in a sentence

Notice the difference

Common mistakes

From understanding to using

Make your own example.

Try these without answer choices. Say your answer aloud or write it below, then compare your reasoning with the model.