The imperative mood in German is called the imperative (der Imperativ) and is an appeal to induce action, and also expresses advice, recommendation, call, request, warning, prohibition. There are several forms of address: confidential, polite, motivating. To build an imperative, you need to know the personal endings of present tense verbs. Only the form of the second person in the singular is specially formed. This is an appeal to "you". Other forms remain the same.
The imperative mood in German: the rules of formation for the second person singular
The appeal is most often directed to a specific person. We encourage someone to act, we order, we advise. Therefore, the imperative in the second person singular is the most common.
For its formation from the form of the verb du, the ending -st is removed in the present. So, for example, ifthe narrative form of the sentence sounds like "you will come in the evening" - du kommst am Abend. Then, to form the imperative mood, you only need to remove -st. Komm am Abend - "come in the evening!" Sometimes an -e is added to the stem of the verb. But this is often optional. In colloquial speech, this suffix is often lost.
For verbs with escet (-ss) at the end of the stem, the rule is different: only the ending -t leaves. For example, ich esse, du isst, but: iss! ("eat"!)
If the root vowel is changed to an umlaut in verbs, it is not saved.
When the stem ends in -ten, -den, -eln, -ieren, -gen, the vowel -e is added to the stem in addition. So: “work - work” - arbeiten - arbeite! "swim - swim" - baden - bade!
It's easy to learn the imperative mood in German. A table with examples will help memorization. In fact, there is nothing difficult in building an imperative, it just takes a little practice.
Imperative verbs in the second person plural
The imperative mood in German in 2 l. plural is built according to the following rules:
- The form of the verb remains the same.
- The personal pronoun is leaving.
It's very simple here: no exceptions, no extra vowels or consonants.
Examples: "you work" - "work!": ihr arbeitet - arbeitet!
Other forms of the imperative
Imperativeinclination in German is also expressed by impulse. In Russian, this translates as "let's …". For example - gehen wir! - "Let's go!" or "Let's go!".
To form this form, you just need to swap the verb and pronoun. So, for example, "we dance" would be translated as wir tanzen. And the urge to dance will be: Tanzen wir!
The imperative mood of a German verb in a polite form is built just as easily. It just changes the word order: the verb comes first, and then the pronoun.
Compare: "You do" - Sie machen.
But: "do it!" (You) – machen Sie!
It is logically understandable why pronouns are retained for the second person in the plural and for the polite form. The verbs in this case have the same endings. Pronouns are left to avoid confusion.
When politely addressed, it is recommended to also add the word "please". That is, not just, for example, “Come” (Kommen Sie), but Kommen Sie bitte. You can also say bitte mal. The Germans in general are very important formalities and polite forms.
The verbs sein (to be), haben (to have), werden (to become) have their own special endings. Their imperative forms simply need to be memorized.
