Imperative (Commands)
Imperative (Commands)
English has a single imperative form no matter who you're addressing. German has three, matching its three ways of saying 'you' — du, ihr, and Sie.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Three imperative forms, matched to du/ihr/Sie
Komm! (du) / Kommt! (ihr) / Kommen Sie! (Sie)
Come!
English has a single imperative form regardless of who you're talking to ('Come!' works for one friend, a group, or a stranger). German has three, matching its three ways of saying 'you': du → drop -st and usually the final -e (komm), ihr → same as the ihr present-tense form (kommt), Sie → invert to verb-Sie (kommen Sie), keeping the polite pronoun visible, unlike the other two forms which drop the pronoun entirely.
du-imperative: e→i/ie verbs also change; a→ä verbs don't
du isst → Iss! ; du siehst → Sieh! ; du fährst → Fahr! (no umlaut in the du-imperative)
Eat! See! Drive!
Strong verbs that change e→i or e→ie in the du-form of the present tense (essen → isst, sehen → siehst) carry that change into the du-imperative (Iss!, Sieh!). But verbs that change a→ä in the present tense (fahren → du fährst) do NOT carry the umlaut into the imperative — Fahr!, not Fähr! This asymmetry has no English parallel and is a common source of errors.
sein has a unique imperative
Sei ruhig! (du) / Seid ruhig! (ihr) / Seien Sie ruhig! (Sie) — Be quiet!
Be quiet!
sein's imperative doesn't follow the normal pattern at all (you might expect bist-based forms) — sei, seid, and seien Sie must simply be memorized, much like English 'be' itself is irregular compared to regular verb imperatives.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Komm! | kom | Come! (du) |
| Kommt! | komt | Come! (ihr) |
| Kommen Sie! | KOM-en zee | Come! (Sie, formal) |
| Sei ruhig! | zy ROO-ikh | Be quiet! (du) |
| Seid ruhig! | zyt ROO-ikh | Be quiet! (ihr) |
| Seien Sie ruhig! | ZY-en zee ROO-ikh | Be quiet! (Sie, formal) |
| Iss! | is | Eat! (du) |
| Sieh! | zee | Look! / See! (du) |
| Fahr vorsichtig! | fahr FOR-zikh-tikh | Drive carefully! (du) |
| Geh! | gay | Go! (du) |
| Hilf mir! | hilf meer | Help me! (du) |
| Machen Sie das bitte! | MAHKH-en zee dahs BIT-eh | Please do that. (Sie, formal) |