German 1 Online: Reading Guide for Pages 130-133: Commands and Imperatives

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Page 130: The Imperative

This grammar section is important — it is not extremely difficult but you need to pay attention to
the details. You will be learning to give “commands” in the imperative form of verbs, which is slightly
different from the normal present tense. There are three different forms to learn: the SIE-
Imperative for formal situations, the DU-Imperative for casual singular, and the IHR-Imperative for
casual plural. Please read the entire section very carefully.

Things to notice:
• You should always be aware of WHO you’re giving the command to! If you’re in a formal situation, you must
use the SIE form of the imperative. If you’re in a casual setting, decide whether you are talking to only one
person (DU form of the imperative) or more than one person (IHR form of the imperative). We do not
make these distinctions in English: we simply say “Go!” or “Please go!” whether the person is a friend, a
stranger or a group of people, so you will need to be aware of who you are addressing in German commands.
• For the SIE-Imperative, the form is quite simple: just the verb plus Sie in reverse order from present tense:
Kommen Sie! Come! (to a stranger) normal verb form
Essen Sie! Eat! (to a stranger) normal verb form
Lesen Sie! Read! (to a stranger) normal verb form
Fahren Sie! Drive! (to a stranger) normal verb form
Rufen Sie mich an! Call me! (to a stranger) separable prefix
Seien Sie! Be! (to a stranger) note irregular form of ‘sein’!

• For the DU-Imperative, you will need to remove the -st ending and do NOT say the word ‘du’. You will also
have to watch for stem-changing verbs: if the verb had a stem-change from E to I (essen, lesen, nehmen)
then you will need to keep the I/IE change. If the verb was an A to Ä stem change, then the umlaut is not
included in the command form.
Komm! Come! (to a friend) remove -st ending, and do not say ‘du’
Iss! Eat! (to a friend) keep the stem change i, remove ending, no ‘du’
Lies! Read! (to a friend) keep the stem change i, remove ending, no ‘du’
Fahr! Drive! (to a friend) do not add umlaut, remove ending, no ‘du’
Ruf mich an! Call me! (to a friend) remove -st ending, separate prefix, no ‘du’
Sei! Be! (to a friend) note irregular form of ‘sein’

• For the IHR-Imperative, you simply remove the word ‘ihr’ but keep the normal -t ending on the verb:
Kommt! Come! (to a casual group) keep -t but remove the word ‘ihr’
Esst! Eat! (to a casual group) keep -t, remove ‘ihr’, no stem change for ihr
Lest! Read! (to a casual group) keep -t, remove ‘ihr’, no stem change for ihr
Fahrt! Drive! (to a casual group) keep -t but remove the word ‘ihr’
Ruft mich an! Call me! (to a casual group) keep -t, remove ‘ihr’, separate prefix
Seid! Be! (to a casual group) note regular form of ‘sein’

• Make sure to also understand the use of the words “doch” and “mal” and “bitte”, all of which can be added
to command forms to ‘soften’ the intensity. Saying “komm!” is very direct. Saying “komm mal!” or
“komm doch!” is softer, more like ‘come on, why don’t you come’. And saying “komm bitte!” is simply
adding the word please to your command.
I strongly suggest that you look at the following link, which is a handout I used when I teach German in a face-to-face
class. It may explain things for you more clearly than the book does.

Handout: Explanation of Imperative Command Forms

(http://www.nthuleen.com/saddleback/handouts/Imperatives_Explanation.pdf)

Page 131-133: Übung 16, 17, 18, und 20

You will complete exercises 16, 17, 18 and 20 as part of your Connect Aufgabe, so you can ignore
the textbook page for now until you complete that assignment. Exercises 19 and 21 are not assigned.

Now that you have learned the important information about the imperative forms for commands, you should
complete the Aufgabe on the Connect website. After you have completed those exercises, move on to the next
reading guide (pages 118-120), where we learn vocabulary and structures for talking about movies, music and
theater in German.