IMPERATIVES

Affirmative imperatives have the same form as the infinitive without ‘to’.
‘Come here.’
‘Be quiet, please. I’m trying to concentrate.’
‘Always remember what I told you.’
‘Have some more tea.’
‘Shut up or I’ll lose my temper.’
Negative imperatives are constructed with do not(don’t) + short infinitive:
‘Please do not lean out of the window.’
‘Don’t do that again or you’ll be in trouble.’
Emphatic imperative is made up of ‘do’ + infinitive. it is common in polite requests,
complaints and apologies.
‘Do be a bit more careful next time when you type an official letter.’
‘Do forgive me – I didn’t mean to interrupt.’
Subject with imperative
The imperative does not usually have a subject, but we can use a noun or pronoun to
make it clear whom we are speaking to.
‘Somebody answer the phone!’
‘Jim come here – everybody stay where you are.’
‘Nobody move!’
Let
We can use let’s to make suggestions or to give orders to a group that includes the
speaker.
‘Let’s have a drink.’
‘OK, let’s all get moving.’
‘Let’s go for a walk, shall we?’
‘Let’s not get angry.’
Question tags
After imperatives the normal question tags are will you? won’t you? would you? can
you? can’t you? and could you?
Give me a hand, will you?
Get me something to drink, can you?
Be quiet, can’t you?
Don’t tell anybody, will you?