Imperative in German (Imperativsätze) | Imperative Examples Deutsch

Hello dear friends, in this lesson, we will explain in detail the Imperative in German, which is one of the subjects you will need the most while learning German. It may be a little difficult when you first learn it, but with regular repetition and practice, you can learn this subject completely and use it easily in your daily life, let’s get started.

Imperative in German (Imperativsätze) | Imperative Examples Deutsch

There are three ways to make imperative in German language, Singular (Singular) when giving orders to one person, Plurar (Plural) when giving orders to more than one person, Höflichkeitform (Formal) In cases where courtesy is required.

These forms are only used with the three person pronouns, namely “du” (you), “Ihr” (second person plural) and “Sie” (you).

In order to perform an action (becoming) in English, the person in front of us; “do!, go!, say!” We make imperatives or give a warning. In German, this is done in a similar way.

+If we say how to form the imperative (Imperativ), you can see it in the exercise below where we use the verb machen (to do);

for the personal pronoun du: take the regular “du” conjugation of the verb and remove the “-st” at the end; also remove the personal pronoun “du” Du machst. – Imperativ: Mach!

Imperative Examples in German: 

du gehst : you are going
geh: Go !

Du bleibst: You stay
bleb: Stay!

ihr: take the regular “ihr” conjugation of the verb, then remove the personal pronoun “ihr”; Ihr macht. Imperativ: Macht!

Ihr sprecht : You speak
Sprecht: Speak!

Ihr fragt: You ask
Fragt: Problem!

For the personal pronoun Sie, take the verb’s regular “Sie” conjugation; put “Sie” after the verb Sie machen. Imperativ: Machen Sie!

Sie laufen : You are running
Laufen Sie: run!

Sie hören : You are listening
Hören Sie : listen!

In German and English, an exclamation point always comes at the end of the imperative!

	Antworten	Answer
Du	Lauf !	Run !
Ihr	Lauft !	Run !
Sie	Laufen Sie !	Run !

In everyday speech, apart from this situation, the verb “en” is removed and the imperative mood is made.

Komm! – come!
Geh! – go!

If the verbs whose root ends with d, t, m, n, ig are to be converted into imperative mood, they take the suffix – e and – et at the end of du and ihr persons.

bilden : to establish, to create

Bilde ein Satz ! make a sentence

Bildet ein Satz ! make a sentence

antworten : to reply

Antworte auf meine Frage ! Answer my question

Antwortet auf meine Frage ! answer my question

Atmen: to breathe

Do not throw! Take a breath

Atm! breathe

In negative sentence constructions, the negative suffix nicht and kein is included in the sentence.

– Arbeite nicht. / Study (Singular)

– Arbeitet nicht ./ Do not work (Plural)

– Arbeiten Sienicht. / Do not work ( Höflichkeit)

Imperative in German with Auxiliary Verbs (Hilfsverben)

SEIN

Sei vorsichtig ! be careful (du)

Seid vorsichtig ! Be careful ( ihr )

Seien Sie vorsichtig ! Be careful ( Sie )

 

HABEN

Hab keine Angst ! Don’t be afraid (du)

Habt keine Angst ! Don’t be afraid( ihr )

Haben Sie keine Angst ! Don’t be afraid ( Sie )

WERDEN

werde nicht nevös ! Don’t get angry ( du )

werdet nicht nervos ! Don’t be angry ( ihr )

werden Sie nicht nervos ! Don’t be angry ( Sie )

Imperative in Separable Verbs

In other verbs, the verb is conjugated, only the separable part goes to the end;

fernsehen

du       sieh fern!

ihr      seht fern!

Sie      sehen Sie fern!

 

Imperative in German with Irregular Verbs

In irregular verbs conjugated according to the present tense and the personal pronoun du, the last letter is removed. However, in the “Du” form, some irregular verbs that usually change the root vowel do not change it in the imperative! Instead, they retain the vowel in their basic (infinitive) form, and the personal pronoun du is conjugated as if it were in a regular verb form.

The irregular verb “Essen” is a great example of this:

Present tense:

Du isst mit uns Pizza.
You are eating pizza with us.

Order:

Isst mit uns Pizza!
Eat pizza with us!

Du:

Fahren: Du fährst        Fahr! (Drive)
Lesen: Du liest        lies! (Read)

Issue:

Essen:  Ihr lest         lest!
Fahren: Ihr fahrt        Fahr!

You:

Essen:  essen        essen Sie! (Eat)
Lesen:  lesen         Lesen Sie! (Read)