The imperative, or imperative, in any language expresses a request, a call to action, or an order. By the way, in German a number of other forms (f-m) can be used with a similar meaning (KI and KII, infinitive, present and future Futurum I). But in this article we will consider the imperative mood as such.

Speaking in detail about the meaning of the imperative in German, we can highlight the following meanings: request, appeal, suggestion, advice, order, prescription, warning, instruction.

The imperative mood in German has three functions:

1. when referring to one person with you (du): hör(e) zu! Schreib(e)!
2. when referring to several persons with you (ihr): hört zu! Schreibt!
3. when addressing you politely (Sie): hören Sie zu! Schreiben!

Let us consider in detail the formation of each f-we.

F-ma 2nd l. units h. (i.e. when referring to a person on you) is formed from the stem of the infinitive - the ending of the verb (verb).

Mach-en - mach (e)! Komm-en - Komm(e)! Geh-en-geh(e)!

In the above options, the ending e can be optional, i.e. 2 options are allowed. But usually in colloquial everyday speech, verbs are used. without ending: Mach! Komm! Geh!

However, in some cases, the ending -e is mandatory - if the stem of the verb. ends in -d, -t, -ig, and also in v. rechnen, öffnen.

Öffne die Tür bitte.

Entschuldige mich bitte!

Warte auf mich ein paar Minuten!

In verb. with a separable prefix, the prefix is ​​placed at the end of the sentence, as in the indicative:

Anrufen-ruf mich an! Aufhören - hör auf! Aufstehen – steh auf!

In strong verbs. with an umlaut in the imperative, the umlaut is lost:

Laufen-du laufst-lauf!

Tragen - du trägst - trag!

In some strong verbs with vowel alternation at the root, the alternation is preserved:

geben - du gibst - gib!

lesen - du liest - lies!

nehmen - du nimmst - nimm!

essen - de isst - iss!

In colloquial German, to v. in the imperative, the particle mal is often added, which in Russian corresponds to the particle –ka.

Guck mal! - Look!

Komm mal her! - Come here!

Warte mal! - Wait a minute!

It is noteworthy that the pronoun du is not usually used, since the f-ma itself gives a clear idea of ​​​​who the speaker is addressing, although there are no rules prohibiting it.

ATTENTION! Since the functions of the imperative are formed from the infinitive, then the functions of the auxiliary verbs. differ from the usual personal f-m:

Haben - du hast - Hab / habt / haben keine Angst!

Werden - du - wirst - Werde / werdet / werden bitt nicht böse!

Sein - du bist - Sei / seid / seien höfflich!

The function of the imperative when referring to several persons coincides with the indicative (indicative mood), but in the sentence it is placed in the first position:

Zuhören – ihr hört zu – Hört der Lehrerin zu!

Auf schreiben - ihr schreibt auf - Schreibt die Hausaufgabe auf!

Sein - ihr seid - Seid bitte morgen pünktlich!

The polite f-ma (when referring to you) of the imperative coincides with the f-m of the 3rd l. plural (indicative mood), but also placed at the beginning of the sentence:

Nehmen Sie ihre Aufgabe!

Schreiben Sie bitte ihre Adresse auf !

Kommen Sie bitte hierher!

As for the pronoun, its use here is optional, but a sentence with a pronoun is preferable, as a more polite form of address (of course, if we are talking about communicating with a person, and not an impersonal kitchen recipe or job description).

NOTES!

• When referring to several indefinite persons, the infinitive is used: Nicht an die Tür lehnen. Die Tür nichtöffnen, bevor der Zug hält.
• In clear orders that require immediate execution, the past participles (Partizip II) are used: Aufgestanden! Angetreten!
• For a call to action in relation to the 1st l. unit (we) is used as a verb. lassen:

Lass uns ins Kino gehen. - if there are two interlocutors.

Lasst uns ins Kino gehen. - if there are at least three interlocutors.

• An exclamation mark is used to express an energetic, appeal, order or demand in writing, if attention is not focused on the order, then a period is used, which is expressed in oral speech with the appropriate intonation.

Imperative form (Imperative)

To express a request or command, a special imperative form is used - imperative.

Franz, komm (mal) her! - Come here (du - you).

Jens und Petra, kommt mal her! - Come here (ihr - you).

Herr und Frau Schmidt, kommen Sie her! - Come here (Sie - you).

In the latter case (in a polite form), we see just the reverse word order. Please note: you need to say not just come closer, A come closer You (not forget Sie).

Ihr command– You are coming(appeal to children, friends or relatives with whom you are on "you"). Here it is simply omitted ihr: Kommt! – Come!

Of particular interest is the first form (du - you). You are taking du kommst– you are coming and take away the personal ending - st. It turns out komm! - come!

But, you say, wouldn't it be easier just to take infinitiv(indefinite form comment) and remove - en? It is possible and so, you just need to remember that we have several verbs that are in the forms You And He change the root vowel:

geben (give) - du gibst (you give) - gib! (give!)

sehen (to look) - du siehst (you look) - sieh mal! (check this out!)

And what happens to verbs that are in the forms You And He receive Umlaut?

fahren (to go) - du fährst (you are going) - fahr! (go!)

laufen (run) - du läufst (you run) - lauf! (run!)

As you can see, in an imperative form Umlaut evaporates.

We also have verbs that, for ease of pronunciation, were inserted -e- before personal endings -st, -t. IN imperative This - e is saved.

arbeiten (to work) - du arbeitest (you work) - arbeite! (Work!)

öffnen (to open) - du öffnest (you open) - öffne! (open!)

And also for verbs -eln, -ern:

lächeln (smile) - lächle! (smile!), ändern (change) - ändere! (change, change!)

And finally, one more such case:

entschuldigen (excuse) - du entschuldigst (you're sorry) - entschuldige! (sorry!)

The fact is that - ig at the end of a word is pronounced like [ uh]. Therefore, to preserve the pronunciation [ ig], is added - e.

In general, before all verbs were added -e(except those that change -e– on -i– fundamentally). So you can also find more "old-fashioned" forms: Komme! Lauf!

They have special forms imperative auxiliary verbs. Compare:

Dust vorsichtig. - You are careful.

Sei vorsichtig! - Be careful!

Sie sind sparsam. - You are frugal.

Seien Sie nicht so sparsam! Don't be so economical!

Seien Sie bitte so nett… - Please be so kind (nice)…

Ihr seid saves the form:

Kinder, seid ruhig, bitte! - Children, be quiet! ("Keep calm!")

Duhast Angst. - You are afraid (have fear).

Hab keine Angst! - Don't be afraid!

Du wirst bose. - You will be angry (you will become, you will be angry).

Werd(e) nur nicht bose. - Don't get angry!

A particularly polite request is expressed in the form würden+ infinitiv, where the auxiliary verb würden as if corresponds to the Russian particle would:

Würden Sie bitte bis morgen alle Formalitäten erledigen. - Settle (would you settle), please, all the formalities before tomorrow.

Besides, imperative can be sent to the form We, then the following options are possible:

(Los!) Tanzen wir! - (Let's Dance!

Wollen wir tanzen! - Let's dance! (literally: We want to dance!)

Lass uns tanzen! - Let's dance! (Give us, let us dance!)

Sometimes, as in Russian, imperative can also be expressed in the indefinite form:

Einstein bitte! – Please, sit down! (to transport).

Nichtöffnen, bevor der Zughalt! – Do not open until the train has stopped.

Nothing storen! - Do not interfere!

Karten hier entwerten. - Here to validate (literally: depreciate) tickets.

To see how the forms of the imperative mood (imperative) are formed, let's take a few weak and strong verbs - for example, sagen - speak, say, zeigen- show, wiederholen- repeat, on the one hand, and kommen - come, sprechen- speak, talk and geben- give- with another.

Weak verbs

Strong verbs

In the plural, the imperative is formed in the same way for weak and strong verbs. But in the singular, weak verbs have the ending -e(zeige, etc.), and strong ones - zero ending (komm, etc.). At the same time, some strong verbs also change the root vowel - namely, those in which the root vowel changes in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular (see above).

In colloquial speech, the ending -e in the 2nd l. unit the imperative is often dropped for weak verbs: not sage, but sag, and so on (because -e given above in parentheses).

Particle mal corresponds to the Russian "-ka" and in colloquial speech is often used with the imperative of the 2nd l. singular: sag mal - tell me, schau mal- look.

In grammar - an imperative, in everyday life - solid requests. Therefore, the German imperative (if we are not in the ranks of the Bundeswehr) actually merged with the word bitte - Please. For polite form, this is the law:

• Sagen Sie bitte... - Tell me please...
• Zeigen Sie bitte... - Show me please...
• Wiederholen Sie bitte... - Repeat please...
• Kommen Sie bitte... - Come please...

In writing, "bitte" is not separated by commas.

If you want to ask a question about how to get somewhere, etc., then in principle you can say: "Sagen Sie bitte ..." But it's better to use formulas:

• Würden Sie bitte sagen... - You could say...
• Verzeihung / Entschuldigung, würden Sie bitte sagen... - Excuse me (sorry), you could say...
• Bitte schön, würden Sie sagen... - Kindly, could you say...

This is a polite request in the subjunctive mood (like the English would), most appropriate in such cases.

And if we need to offer something to our companions? "Let's go!", "Let's sleep!" and so on - how to say it?

Here "bitte" (except in some special cases) is not used. This is an energetic request.

• Gehen wir! - Let's go to!
• Wollen wir gehen! - Lets go!
• Schlafenwir! - Let's sleep!
• Wollen wir schlafen! - Let's sleep!

The verb wollen means want(for more details, see the part “To want means to be able”), but here it corresponds to the Russian “let's” in incentive sentences.

• Wollen wir Deutsch sprechen! - Let's speak German!

Introduction

The imperative (in Russian - imperative mood) serves to express a request or order directly addressed to one or more interlocutors. The imperative has the following forms: du - you ihr - you, wir - we and polite form Sie - You.

Beispiel

Fahrgast: Halten Sie!

Fahrer: Steigen Sie ein!

Fahrgast: Fahren Sie Mich bitte zum Bahnhof!

Fahrer: Schnallen Sie sich bitte an!

Fahrgast: Fahren wir!

Use

The imperative expresses a call to action.

For example: Halten Sie! Stop! Steigen Sie ein! Sit down! Fahren Sie mich zum Bahnhof! Take me to the station!

1st person plural form (wir) used when the speaker refers to one or more persons, including himself among those prompted.

For example: Fahren wir! Let's go!

Note

To soften a request expressed by an imperative, you can use the word bitte- Please. bitte, unlike Russian Please, is not separated by commas.

For example: Fahren Sie mich bitte zum Bahnhof! Take me to the station, please! Schnallen Sie sich bitte an! Buckle up please! However, the imperative in German is not used as often as in Russian. As a rule, a polite request is best expressed using the subjunctive. Often used structures such as:
For example: Könnten Sie mir sagen, wo ich eine Bank finde? Can you please tell me where can I find a bank?(Better than: Sagen Sie mir bitte, wo ich eine Bank finden kann.)
Ich hätte gerne sechs Brötchen. Give me six buns, please.(Better than: Geben Sie mir bitte sechs Brötchen.)

Education

1st, 3rd person plural (wir/Sie)

The 1st and 3rd person plural imperative is formed with verb in infinitive + Sie/wir. in the verb sein a letter is added e.

For example: Gehen Sie!/Seien Sie ehrlich! Go!/Be honest! Gehen wir!/seienwir ehrlich! Let's go! / Let's be honest!

2nd person plural (ihr)

The 2nd person plural imperative is the same as the 2nd person plural in present, but is used without a pronoun.

For example: gehen → ihr geht → geht! go!
sein → ihr seid → seid ehrlich! be honest!

2nd person singular (du)

To form the imperative of the 2nd person singular, the ending of the infinitive form is omitted en. Sometimes in high style, many verbs get the ending e, in colloquial speech, as a rule, this ending is not added.

For example: Geh(e)!/Sei ehrlich! Go!/Be honest!

Features in the formation of the imperative of the 2nd person singular:

• Verbs with the i/ie alternation retain this alternation in the imperative and do not receive an imperative ending e. For example: L ie s! (lesen – ich lese, du liest) (not: Liese!) Read!
• The alternation a/ä does not apply to the imperative. For example: F a hr! (But : ich fahre, du fährst) Go!
• If the stem of the verb in the present ends in d/t, then the ending e is always added to the imperative. For example: wart e! (not: Wart!) Wait!
• If the verb stem in the present ends in a consonant + m/n, then the ending e is always added to the imperative. However, if this consonant is m, n, l, r or h (but not ch), ending e not required to be added. For example: Atm e!/Zeichn e! Breathe!/Draw! aber: Schwimm(e)!/Lern(e)! Swim! / Learn!
• If the verb ends in eln/ern, then the ending e is always added. (Letter e at the end eln/ern may be omitted.) For example: Fei(e)r e!/Ang(e)l e! Celebrate!/Udi!