The imperative mood in German has several forms, and can be “softened” by adding flavoring particles (‘doch’ and ‘mal’) and the word ‘bitte’ (please). ‘Doch’ adds encouragement or mild insistence to a command; ‘mal’ softens a request; the two combined, ‘doch mal’, is more relaxed.
Beispiele:
Bitte, trinken Sie Wasser! Please, drink water! (polite)
Trinken Sie doch Wasser! Do drink water! (encouraging)
Trinken Sie mal Wasser! Just drink some water! (softened)
Trinken Sie doch mal Wasser! Go ahead and drink water! (not forceful)
Below is an outline of the forms with more examples.
Forms of the Imperative
There are four forms of the imperative: Second person singular (du), second person plural (ihr), first person plural (wir) and second person formal singular and plural (Sie).
Main Exceptions for 2nd person singular:
- If the main part of a verb ends in consonant +“m” or “n”, add an -e at the end
Examples:
atmen, du atmest; Imperativ: Atme!
zeichnen, du zeichnest; Imperativ: Zeichne!
-BUT-
kommen, du kommst; Imperativ: Komm!
- If the main part of a verb ends in “d” or “t”, add an -e at the end (warten; du wartest; Warte!)
- Change from “a” to “ä” is not happening in the imperative (laufen; du läufst; Lauf!)
- Change from “e” to “ie” is happening in the imperative (lesen; du liest; Lies!)
Examples:
Räum dein Zimmer auf! (Infinitiv: aufräumen; Präsens: du räumst auf)
Macht die Musik aus! (Infinitiv: ausmachen; Präsens: ihr macht aus)
Gehen Sie in das Erdgeschoss! (Infinitiv: gehen; Präsens: Sie gehen)
The German imperative (der Imperativ) is a mood in German grammar that expresses orders and commands. The German imperative only exists in the second person singular (du), plural (ihr) and polite form (Sie) as well as in the first person plural (wir). All imperative sentences include verbs written in what is called an “imperative mood,” meaning they give commands.