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The imperative mood is a
grammatical mood In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used for signaling modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying (for example, a statement of ...
that forms a command or request. The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. To form the imperative mood, use the base form of the verb. They are sometimes called ''directives'', as they include a feature that encodes directive force, and another feature that encodes modality of unrealized interpretation. An example of a
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
used in the imperative mood is the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
phrase "Go." Such imperatives imply a second-person subject (''you''), but some other languages also have first- and third-person imperatives, with the meaning of "let's (do something)" or "let them (do something)" (the forms may alternatively be called
cohortative In linguistics, hortative modalities (; abbreviated ) are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action. Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity, or the speaker's attitude, for or a ...
and
jussive The jussive (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood of verbs for issuing orders, commanding, or exhorting (within a subjunctive framework). English verbs are not marked for this mood. The mood is similar to the ''cohortative'' mood, which typically a ...
). Imperative mood can be denoted by the
glossing abbreviation This article lists common abbreviations for grammatical terms that are used in linguistic interlinear glossing of oral languages in English. The list provides conventional glosses as established by standard inventories of glossing abbreviations su ...
. It is one of the
irrealis mood In linguistics, irrealis moods (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. This contras ...
s.


Formation

Imperative mood is often expressed using special conjugated verb forms. Like other
finite verb Traditionally, a finite verb (from la, fīnītus, past participle of to put an end to, bound, limit) is the form "to which number and person appertain", in other words, those inflected for number and person. Verbs were originally said to be ''fin ...
forms, imperatives often inflect for
person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
and
number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...
. Second-person imperatives (used for ordering or requesting performance directly from the person being addressed) are most common, but some languages also have imperative forms for the first and third persons (alternatively called
cohortative In linguistics, hortative modalities (; abbreviated ) are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action. Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity, or the speaker's attitude, for or a ...
and
jussive The jussive (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood of verbs for issuing orders, commanding, or exhorting (within a subjunctive framework). English verbs are not marked for this mood. The mood is similar to the ''cohortative'' mood, which typically a ...
respectively). In
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
, the imperative is formed using the bare
infinitive Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
form of the verb (see
English verbs Verbs constitute one of the main parts of speech (word classes) in the English language. Like other types of words in the language, English verbs are not heavily inflected. Most combinations of tense, aspect, mood and voice are expressed perip ...
for more details). This is usually also the same as the second-person present
indicative A realis mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as in declarative sentences. Most ...
form, except in the case of the verb ''to be'', where the imperative is ''be'' while the indicative is ''are''. (The present
subjunctive The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
always has the same form as the imperative, although it is
negated In logic, negation, also called the logical complement, is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P or \overline. It is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and false ...
differently – the imperative is negated using ''do not'', as in "Don't touch me!"; see ''do''-support. Occasionally ''do'' is not used: ''Dare not touch me!'') The imperative form is understood as being in the second person (the subject
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...
''you'' is usually omitted, although it can be included for emphasis), with no explicit indication of singular or plural. First and third person imperatives are expressed periphrastically, using a construction with the imperative of the verb ''let'': * Let me (Let's) see. (
Internal monologue Intrapersonal communication is the process by which an individual communicates within themselves, acting as both sender and receiver of messages, and encompasses the use of unspoken words to consciously engage in self-talk and inner speech. Intr ...
equivalent to a first person singular imperative) * Let us (Let's) go. (equivalent to a first person plural imperative) * Let us be heard. (
Royal we The royal ''we'', majestic plural (), or royal plural, is the use of a plural pronoun (or corresponding plural-inflected verb forms) used by a single person who is a monarch or holds a high office to refer to themselves. A more general term fo ...
in an equivalent to a first person passive imperative; also constructions like "We are to be heard") * Let him/her/it/them run. (equivalent to a third person imperative; constructions with ''may'' are also used) * Let him/her/it/them be counted. (Equivalent to a third person passive imperative)


Other languages

Other languages such as
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
have a greater variety of
inflected In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defini ...
imperative forms, marked for person and number, their formation often depending on a verb's conjugation pattern. Examples can be found in the specific language sections below. In languages that make a
T–V distinction The T–V distinction is the contextual use of different pronouns that exists in some languages and serves to convey formality or familiarity. Its name comes from the Latin pronouns '' tu'' and '' vos''. The distinction takes a number of forms ...
( vs. , vs. , vs. , vs. , etc.) the use of particular forms of the second person imperative may also be dependent on the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the addressee, as with other verb forms. The second person singular imperative often consists of just the stem of the verb, without any ending – this is the case in the
Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
, for example. For example, Te Reo Māori has the imperative "''me''", which in addition to being put in front of sentences to command (e.g. "''Me horoi ō ringaringa''"; "(you must) wash your hands"), is used to assert the imperative mood in sentences that would be translated as "let's (let us)" in English. An example of this is "''Me haere tāua''", which translates to "let us (you and me) go", but the "us" component goes last.


Syntax and negation

Imperative sentences sometimes use different
syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
than declarative or other types of clauses. There may also be differences of syntax between affirmative and negative imperative sentences. In some cases the imperative form of the verb is itself different when negated. A distinct negative imperative form is sometimes said to be in prohibitive or vetative mood (
abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
). Negative imperatives tell the subject to not do something. They usually begin with the verb "don't" or the negative form of a verb. e.g., example, "Don't be like that." Many languages, even not normally
null-subject language In linguistic typology, a null-subject language is a language whose grammar permits an independent clause to lack an explicit subject; such a clause is then said to have a null subject. In the principles and parameters framework, the null subj ...
s, omit the subject pronoun in imperative sentences, as usually occurs in English (see
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
). Details of the syntax of imperative sentences in certain other languages, and of differences between affirmative and negative imperatives, can be found in some of the other specific language sections below.


Usage

Imperatives are used principally for ordering, requesting or advising the listener to do (or not to do) something: "Put down the gun!", "Pass me the sauce", "Don't go too near the tiger." They are also often used for giving instructions as to how to perform a task: "Install the file, then restart your computer". They can sometimes be seen on signs giving orders or warnings "Stop", "Give way", "Do not enter". The use of the imperative mood may be seen as impolite, inappropriate or even offensive in certain circumstances. In polite speech, orders or requests are often phrased instead as questions or statements, rather than as imperatives: * Could you come here for a moment? (more polite than "Come here!") * It would be great if you made us a drink. (for "Make us a drink!") * I have to ask you to stop. (for "Stop!")
Politeness Politeness is the practical application of good manners or etiquette so as not to offend others. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in ano ...
strategies (for instance,
indirect speech acts In the philosophy of language and linguistics, speech act is something expressed by an individual that not only presents information but performs an action as well. For example, the phrase "I would like the kimchi; could you please pass it to me?" ...
) can seem more appropriate in order not to threaten a conversational partner in their needs of self-determination and territory: the partner's ''negative face'' should not appear threatened. As well as the replacement of imperatives with other sentence types as discussed above, there also often exist methods of phrasing an imperative in a more polite manner, such as the addition of a word like ''please''; or a phrase like ''if you could''; or substituting one ''directive'' for another, as in the change from ''will'' to ''may'' e.g, "you will do that" becomes "you may / can do that". Imperatives are also used for speech acts whose function is not primarily to make an order or request, but to give an invitation, give permission, express a wish, make an apology, et cetera: * Come to the party tomorrow! (invitation) * Eat the apple if you want. (permission) * Have a nice trip! (wish) * Pardon me. (apology) When written, imperative sentences are often, but not always, terminated with an
exclamation mark The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, f ...
. First person plural imperatives (
cohortative In linguistics, hortative modalities (; abbreviated ) are verbal expressions used by the speaker to encourage or discourage an action. Different hortatives can be used to express greater or lesser intensity, or the speaker's attitude, for or a ...
s) are used mainly for suggesting an action to be performed together by the speaker and the addressee (and possibly other people): "Let's go to Barbados this year", "Let us pray". Third person imperatives (
jussive The jussive (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood of verbs for issuing orders, commanding, or exhorting (within a subjunctive framework). English verbs are not marked for this mood. The mood is similar to the ''cohortative'' mood, which typically a ...
s) are used to suggest or order that a third party or parties be permitted or made to do something: "Let them eat cake", "Let him be executed". There is an additional imperative form that is used for general prohibitions, consisting of the word "no" followed by the
gerund In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiable ...
form. The best known examples are "No Smoking" and "No Parking". This form does not have a positive form; that is, "Parking" by itself has no meaning unless used as a
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
when it tells that parking is permitted. The following sentences demonstrate several different forms of the imperative mood. * In the second person without personal pronouns: "Go to your cubicle!" * With reflexive pronouns: "Give yourself a break." * With a direct object: "Hit the ball." * Referring to third-person objects of the main verb: "Okay. The test is over now. They win. Let them go back to the recovery annex. For their cake." * As an affirmative imperative (also called positive imperative form): "Go for it!" * As a negative imperative (also called a negative command): "Don't do that!" * Expressing wishes: "Let's go team-name!" * In future tense: "You will behave yourself."


In particular languages

For more details on imperatives in the languages listed below, and in languages that are not listed, see the articles on the grammar of the specific languages.


English

English usually omits the subject pronoun in imperative sentences: *You work hard. (indicative) *Work hard! (imperative; subject pronoun ''you'' omitted) However, it is possible to include the ''you'' in imperative sentences for emphasis. English imperatives are negated using ''don't'' (as in "Don't work!") This is a case of ''do''-support as found in indicative clauses; however in the imperative it applies even in the case of the verb ''be'' (which does not use ''do''-support in the indicative): *You are not late. (indicative) *Don't be late! (imperative) It is also possible to use ''do''-support in affirmative imperatives, for emphasis or (sometimes) politeness: "Do be quiet!", "Do help yourself!". The subject ''you'' may be included for emphasis in negated imperatives as well, following ''don't'': "Don't you dare do that again!"


Latin

Latin regular imperatives include ''amā'' (2nd pers. singular) and ''amāte'' (2nd pers. plural), from the
infinitive Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
''amāre'' (to love); similarly ''monē'' and ''monēte'' from ''monēre'' (to advise/warn); ''audī'' and ''audīte'' from ''audīre'' (to hear), etc. The negative imperative is formed with the infinitive of the verb, preceded by the imperative of ''nōlle'' (to not want): ''nōlī stāre'' (don't stand, 2nd pers. singular) and ''nōlīte stāre'' (2nd pers. plural); compare the positive imperative ''stā'' (stand, 2nd pers. singular) and ''stāte'' (2nd pers. plural). For third-person imperatives, the subjunctive mood is used instead. In Latin there is a peculiar tense in the imperative, which is the future tense that is used when you want the mandate to be fulfilled in the future. This time is used mainly in laws, wills, precepts, etc. However, it is conjugated only with the third and second person singular and plural which carries as a
gramme The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
or ending ''-tō'' for the second and third person singular, ''-tōte'' for the second person plural and ''-ntō'' for the third person plural. On the other hand, in other languages of the world there is a distinctive imperative, which also has a future value, but with a previous meaning and this is the so-called
past imperative The past is the set of all events that occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience ...
that appears in the French and Greek languages as a point of reference. See
Latin conjugation In terms of linguistics and grammar, conjugation has two basic meanings. One meaning is the creation of derived forms of a verb from basic forms, or principal parts. It may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, mood, aspect, voice, or oth ...
. Examples of the following conjugations of the verbs , , and : Sentence examples of the future imperative: * ''Facito voluntas patris mei.'' (You will do my father's will.) * ''Numquam iuranto in falso''. (They will not swear falsely.) * ''Ne occidito fratrem tuum.'' (You will not kill your brother.) * ''Facito quae dico vobis''. (You will do what I tell you.) * ''Auditote quae dico vobis.'' (You will listen to what I say.)


Germanic languages


Dutch

A peculiar feature of
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
is that it can form an imperative mood in the
pluperfect tense The pluperfect (shortening of plusquamperfect), usually called past perfect in English, is a type of verb form, generally treated as a grammatical tense in certain languages, relating to an action that occurred prior to an aforementioned time ...
. Its use is fairly common: * ''Had gebeld!'' (You should have called!, ''If only'' you had called) * ''Was gekomen!'' (You should have come!, ''If only'' you had come)


German

German verbs have a singular and a plural imperative. The singular imperative is equivalent to the bare stem or the bare stem + ''-e''. (In most verbs, both ways are correct.) The plural imperative is the same as the second-person plural of the present tense. * ''Sing!'' or: ''Singe!'' – said to one person: "Sing!" * ''Singt!'' – said to a group of persons: "Sing!" In order to emphasize their addressee, German imperatives can be followed by the
nominative In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
personal pronouns ''du'' ("thou; you g.) or ''ihr'' ("you l.), respectively. For example: "''Geh weg!'' "– "''Geh du doch weg!"'' ("Go away!" – "Why, you go away!"). German has T/V distinction, which means that the pronouns ''du'' and ''ihr'' are used chiefly towards persons with whom one is privately acquainted, which holds true for the corresponding imperatives. (For details see
German grammar The grammar of the German language is quite similar to that of the other Germanic languages. Although some features of German grammar, such as the formation of some of the verb forms, resemble those of English, German grammar differs from that of ...
.) Otherwise, the social-distance pronoun ''Sie'' (you) is used for both singular and plural. Since there exists no actual imperative corresponding to ''Sie'', the form is paraphrased with the third-person plural of the present
subjunctive The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
followed by the pronoun: * ''Singen Sie!'' – said to one or more persons: "Sing!" * ''Seien Sie still!'' – said to one or more persons: "Be quiet!" Like English, German features many constructions that express commands, wishes, etc. They are thus
semantically Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
related to imperatives without being imperatives grammatically: * ''Lasst uns singen!'' (Let's sing!) * ''Mögest du singen!'' (You may sing!) * ''Du sollst singen!'' (You shall sing!)


Romance languages


French

Examples of regular imperatives in French are ''mange'' (2nd pers. singular), ''mangez'' (2nd pers. plural) and ''mangeons'' (1st person plural, "let's eat"), from ''manger'' (to eat) – these are similar or identical to the corresponding present indicative forms, although there are some irregular imperatives that resemble the present subjunctives, such as ''sois'', ''soyez'' and ''soyons'', from ''être'' (to be). A third person imperative can be formed using a subjunctive clause with the conjunction ''que'', as in ''qu'ils mangent de la brioche'' (
let them eat cake "Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "'", said to have been spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread e ...
). French uses different word order for affirmative and negative imperative sentences: * ''Donne-le-leur.'' (Give it to them.) * ''Ne le leur donne pas.'' (Don't give it to them.) The negative imperative (prohibitive) has the same word order as the indicative. See for detail. Like in English, imperative sentences often end with an exclamation mark, e.g. to emphasize an order. In French there is a very distinctive imperative which is the imperative mood of
preterite tense The preterite or preterit (; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple past ...
also called (past imperative or imperative of
future perfect The future perfect is a verb form or construction used to describe an event that is expected or planned to happen before a time of reference in the future, such as ''will have finished'' in the English sentence "I will have finished by tomorrow." ...
), expresses a given order with previous future value which must be executed or fulfilled in a
future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
not immediate, as if it were an action to come, but earlier in relation to another that will also happen in the future. However, this type of imperative is peculiar to French which has only one purpose: to order that something be done before the date or time, therefore, this will always be accompanied by a
circumstantial complement Circumstantial may refer to: *Circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports ...
of time. However, this imperative is formed with the auxiliary verb of the ''avoir'' compound tenses and with the auxiliary verb ''être'' that is also used to form the tenses composed of the pronominal verbs and some of the intransitive verbs, this means that the structure of the verb imperative in its entirety is composed. Examples: * ''Soyez levés demain avant huit heures.'' (Get up tomorrow before eight o'clock.)
ith the auxiliary ''être'' The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
* Ayez ''fini'' ''le travail avant qu'il (ne) fasse nuit.'' (Finish the work before it gets dark.) expletive ''ne''">Expletive_(linguistics).html" ;"title="ith the auxiliary ''avoir'' and optional Expletive (linguistics)">expletive ''ne''* ''Aie écrit le livre demain.'' (Write the book tomorrow.)
ith the auxiliary ''avoir'' The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
* ''Soyez partis à midi.'' (Leave at noon.)
ith the auxiliary ''être'' The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
* ''Ayons fini les devoirs à 6 h.'' (Let us complete homework at 6 o'clock.)
ith the auxiliary ''avoir'' The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
In
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
there is no equivalent grammatical structure to form this tense of the imperative mood; it is translated in imperative mood of present with previous value.


Spanish

In Spanish, imperatives for the familiar singular second person (''tú'') are usually identical to indicative forms for the singular third person. However, there are irregular verbs for which unique imperative forms for ''tú'' exist. ''vos'' ( alternative to ''tú'') usually takes the same forms as ''tú'' (usually with slightly different emphasis) but unique forms exist for it as well. ''vosotros'' (plural familiar second person) also takes unique forms for the imperative. If an imperative takes a pronoun as an object, it is appended to the verb; for example, ''Dime'' (Tell me). Pronouns can be stacked like they can in indicative clauses: * Me lo dices. (You tell me it or You tell it to me, can also mean You tell me as ''lo'' usually isn't translated) * Dímelo. (Tell me it, Tell it to me, Tell me) Imperatives can be formed for ''usted'' (singular formal second person), ''ustedes'' (plural second person), and ''nosotros'' (plural first person) from the respective present subjunctive form. Negative imperatives for these pronouns (as well as ''tú'', ''vos'', and ''vosotros'') are also formed this way, but are negated by ''no'' (e.g. ''No cantes'', "Don't sing").


Portuguese

In Portuguese, affirmative imperatives for singular and plural second person (''tu'' / ''vós'') derive from their respective present indicative conjugations, after having their final ''-s'' dropped.There are some exceptions to this rule; mainly for phonetical reasons and for ''vós'', which hold ''vós'' archaic conjugation paradigm, ''-des''. On the other hand, their negative imperatives are formed by their respective subjunctive forms, as well as both affirmative and negative imperatives for treatment pronouns (''você(s)'') and plural first person (''nós''). If a verb takes a pronoun, it should be appended to the verb: * ''Diz(e)-me.'' (Tell me) Portugal/Brazil * ''Me diz.'' (Tell me) Brazil (spoken) * ''Diz(e)-mo.'' (Tell me it, Tell it to me)


Indic Languages


Hindi-Urdu

In
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Hindustani) the imperatives are conjugated by adding suffixes to the root verb. The negative and positive imperatives are not constructed differently in Hindustani. There are three negations that be used to form negative imperatives. They are: * Imperative negation - mat मत مت (used with verbs in imperative mood) * Indicative negation - nahī̃ नहीं نہیں (used with verbs in
indicative A realis mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as in declarative sentences. Most ...
and
presumptive mood In linguistics, irrealis moods (abbreviated ) are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. This contrasts with the realis moods. Every ...
) * Subjunctive negation - nā ना نا (used with verbs in
subjunctive The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
and contrafactual mood) Often to soften down the tone of the imperatives, the subjunctive and indicative negation are used to form negative imperatives. Imperatives can also be formed using subjunctives to give indirect commands to the third person and to formal second person. A peculiar feature of Hindi-Urdu is that it has imperatives in two tenses; present and the future tense. The present tense imperative gives command in the present and future imperative gives command for the future. Hindi-Urdu explicitly marks grammatical aspects and any verb can be put into the simple, habitual, perfective, and progressive aspects. Each aspect in turn can be conjugated into five different grammatical moods, imperative mood being one of them. In the table below, the verb करना ''karnā'' کرنا (to do) is conjugated into the imperative mood for all the four aspectual forms.


Sanskrit

In
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, लोट् लकार (''lōṭ lakāra'') is used with the verb to form the imperative mood. To form the negative, न (''na'') or मा (''mā'') (when the verb is in passive or active voice respectively) is placed before the verb in the imperative mood.


Bengali

Standard modern Bengali uses the negative postposition /nā/ after a future imperative formed using the ''-iyo'' fusional suffix (in addition, umlaut vowel changes in the verb root might take place).


Other Indo-European languages


Greek

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
has imperative forms for present, aorist, and perfect tenses for the active, middle, and passive voices. Within these tenses, forms exist for second and third persons, for singular, dual, and plural subjects. Subjunctive forms with μή are used for negative imperatives in the aorist. Present Active Imperative: 2nd sg. λεῖπε, 3rd sg. λειπέτω, 2nd pl. λείπετε, 3rd pl. λειπόντων. In ancient Greek, the general order (with the idea of duration or repetition) is expressed using the present imperative and the punctual order (without the idea of duration or repetition) using the aorist imperative.


Russian

The commanding form in Russian language is formed from the base of the present tense.Валгина Н.С., Розенталь Д.Э. Современный русский язык. 1987, Moscow, page 322—323. isbn 978-5-8112-6640-1 The most common form of the second person singular or plural. The form of the second person singular in the imperative mood is formed as follows: * A verb with a present stem ending in – j – the form of the second person singular of the imperative mood is equal to the base: ''читаj-у — читай'', ''убираj-у — убирай'', ''открываj-у — открывай'', ''поj-у — пой''.


Irish

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
has imperative forms in all three persons and both numbers, although the first person singular is most commonly found in the negative (e.g. ''ná cloisim sin arís'' "let me not hear that again").


Non-Indo-European languages


Finnish

In
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
, there are two ways of forming a first-person plural imperative. A standard version exists, but it is typically replaced colloquially by the impersonal tense. For example, from ''mennä'' (to go), the imperative "let's go" can be expressed by ''menkäämme'' (standard form) or ''mennään'' (colloquial). Forms also exist for second (sing. ''mene'', plur. ''menkää'') and third (sing. ''menköön'', plur. ''menkööt'') person. Only first person singular does not have an imperative.


Hebrew

In classical Hebrew, there is a form for positive imperative. It exists for singular and plural, masculine and feminine second-person. The imperative conjugations look like shortages of the future ones. However, in modern Hebrew, the future tense is often used in its place in colloquial speech, and the proper imperative form is considered formal or of higher
register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...
. The negative imperative in those languages is more complicated. In modern Hebrew, for instance, it contains a synonym of the word "no", that is used only in negative imperative (אַל), and is followed by the future tense.


Japanese

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
uses separate verb forms as shown below. For the verb ''kaku'' (''write''): See also the suffixes (''–nasai'') and (''–kudasai'').


Korean

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
has six levels of honorific, all of which have their own imperative endings. Auxiliary verbs 않다 ''anta'' and 말다 ''malda'' are used for negative indicative and prohibitive, respectively. For the verb ''gada'' (go'):


Mandarin

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standar ...
uses different words of negation for the indicative and the prohibitive moods. For the verb ''zuò'' (''do''):


Turkish

For the imperative form, the second-person singular,
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
uses the bare verb stem without the infinitive ending ''-mek''/''-mak''. Other imperative forms use various suffixes. The second-person plural, which can also be used to express formality (See
T–V distinction The T–V distinction is the contextual use of different pronouns that exists in some languages and serves to convey formality or familiarity. Its name comes from the Latin pronouns '' tu'' and '' vos''. The distinction takes a number of forms ...
), uses the suffixes ''-in/-ın/-ün/-un''. The second person double-plural, reserved for super formal contexts (usually public notifications), uses the suffixes ''-iniz/-ınız/-ünüz/-unuz''. Third-person singular uses ''-sin/-sın/-sün/-sun''. Third-person plural uses ''-sinler/-sınlar/-sünler/-sunlar'' (There is no third person double-plural in Turkish). First-person pronouns do not have imperative forms. All Turkish imperative suffixes change depending on the verb stem according to the rules of
vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an Assimilation (linguistics), assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is t ...
. For the verb ''içmek'' (to drink, also to smoke a cigarette or similar): Turkish also has a separate
optative mood The optative mood ( or ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope regarding a given action. It is a superset of the cohortative mood and is closely related to the subjunctive mood but is distinct from the desiderative mood. ...
. Conjugations of the optative mood for the first-person pronouns (singular ''içeyim'', (double-)plural ''içelim'') are sometimes incorrectly said to be first-person imperatives. Conjugations of the optative mood for second and third-person pronouns exist (second-person singular ''içesin'', second-person (double-)plural ''içesiniz'', third-person singular ''içe'', third-person plural ''içeler''), but are rarely used in practice. Negative imperative forms are made in the same way, but using a negated verb as the base. For example, the second person singular imperative of ''içmemek'' (not to drink) is ''içme'' (don't drink). Other
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...
construct imperative forms similarly to Turkish.


See also

*
Imperative logic Imperative logic is the field of logic concerned with imperatives. In contrast to declaratives, it is not clear whether imperatives denote propositions or more generally what role truth and falsity play in their semantics. Thus, there is almost n ...
*
Modality (natural language) In linguistics and philosophy, modality refers to the ways language can express various relationships to reality or truth. For instance, a modal expression may convey that something is likely, desirable, or permissible. Quintessential modal ex ...
*
Free choice inference Free choice is a phenomenon in natural language where a linguistic disjunction appears to receive a logical conjunctive interpretation when it interacts with a modal operator. For example, the following English sentences can be interpreted to mean ...
*
Speech act In the philosophy of language and linguistics, speech act is something expressed by an individual that not only presents information but performs an action as well. For example, the phrase "I would like the kimchi; could you please pass it to me?" ...
*
Pragmatics In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the int ...


Footnotes


References

* Austin, J. L. ''How to do things with words'', Oxford, Clarendon Press 1962. * Schmecken, H. ''Orbis Romanus'', Paderborn, Schöningh 1975, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperative Mood Grammatical moods Linguistic modality Verb types