Imperative
Komm! Kommt! Kommen Sie! — three forms, one for each "you".
German has three words for you, so it has three command forms. Which you need depends only on who you are talking to.
| who | how to build it | example |
|---|---|---|
| du — one friend | verb stem, no ending, no "du" | Komm! |
| ihr — several friends | the normal ihr-form, without "ihr" | Kommt! |
| Sie — formal | infinitive + Sie | Kommen Sie! |
The Sie form is the only one that keeps its pronoun — and it always comes right after the verb.
Komm!
Come!
du
Wartet!
Wait!
ihr
Warten Sie!
Wait!
Sie — formal
Komm bitte.
Please come.
bitte softens everything
Ruf mich an.
Call me.
separable — prefix last
Warte einen Moment.
Wait a moment.
Mach die Tür zu.
Close the door.
A bare imperative can sound blunt. bitte is what makes it polite, and it costs nothing: Warten Sie bitte einen Moment. With strangers, colleagues and officials, use the Sie form and add bitte.
Verbs that change e → i in the du-form keep that change in the imperative — and drop the ending entirely.
| infinitive | du-form | imperative |
|---|---|---|
| lesen | du liest | Lies! |
| nehmen | du nimmst | Nimm! |
| sprechen | du sprichst | Sprich! |
| geben | du gibst | Gib! |
Verbs that take an umlaut in the du-form do not keep it: du fährst but Fahr langsam! And one verb is simply irregular everywhere — sein: Sei vorsichtig! / Seid vorsichtig! / Seien Sie vorsichtig!
Gehen Sie geradeaus.
Go straight ahead.
directions
Nehmen Sie den Bus.
Take the bus.
Seien Sie vorsichtig!
Be careful!
Sprich bitte langsamer.
Please speak more slowly.
Du komm bitte.Komm bitte.
The du-imperative drops the pronoun. Leaving it in turns a request into something that sounds accusing.
Words from this topic
- bitteplease
- geradeausstraight ahead
- links / rechtsleft / right
- vorsichtigcareful
- langsamermore slowly
- der Momentmoment
- die Türdoor
- der Busbus
- zumachento close
- wartento wait