The German Imperative
Why the German imperative is important and some examples on how we form this.
Directions, signs, instructions, orders and rules are all important in the world we live in today. Whether that is for a long trip either in the car or on public transport, at the shops, at the football match, at work, school, even in the home. It's important to understand instructions no matter where we are. They are all there for our health and safety, and as much as some of us may find them aggravating, we still have a responsibility to watch out no matter where we go.
Especially if you're traveling to another country.
I hope today's blog will help. There'll be another cheat sheet or two for you to save.
If the business is Geschlossen, it means it's closed! If it's Geöffnet, it's open!
So, let's talk imperatively.
The German imperative is used when giving orders and instructions. The imperative only exists in the second person singular, where 'du', 'ihr' and 'Sie' is used. Imperative is also used with 'wir' - more on that shortly. Remember - you wouldn't give instructions to yourself. Well…you might. Just not in the German imperative form.
It is worth noting that the verb is an imperative sentence comes in the first position. This may seem confusing to some at first, considering the German sentence usually follows the subject-verb-object pattern. Keine Panik! This should make more sense as we look at some examples.
Let's have a look at ehrlich. This is the German word for 'honest'. In order to form the imperative using 'wir' and 'Sie, we would need to look at how this is formed in a sentence. In English, we would say 'Be honest' or 'Let's be honest'. In this example, we would need to use sein as the verb. Here's how these two sentences are formed…
Seien Sie ehrlich!
Seien wir ehrlich!
See how both of these sentences use the same form of sein? Let's see what happens when we are using ihr…
Seid ehrlich!
The en has been removed from the verb and replaced with d. Also notice how ihr has been omitted from the sentence? This will be the same for 'du', where we remove the en ending of the infinitive verb. Not only that, but when we use the imperative for ‘du’, we’re completely removing the ending of the infinitive verb, as you’ll see below.
Sei ehrlich!
Instead of adding an alternative ending, we just use Sei when referring to someone as 'du'. So, as we can see, the verb ending has changed depending on the person we are speaking to.
Here's a little recap for ehrlich (in the form of a cheat sheet).
Hopefully that will make sense!
Just to add that the imperative may seem a tad intimidating if you're not used to German. Don't worry. You can also add 'bitte' to a sentence in order to sound more polite.
For example - Bitte seien Sie ehrlich. In this case, the verb would shift back into the second position.
Now, do you remember how I mentioned that the imperative, known in German as the Befehlsform, could be used whilst travelling? Well, here are a few more examples.
Well, that last example was a personal reminder to myself. Haha.
We have taken a look at sein as a verb which can be used in the imperative form. Which other verbs can you think of? Here's some more where the pronoun has been dropped.
Kaufen (to buy) = Kauft!
Arbeiten (to work) = Arbeitet!
Fahren (to drive) = Fahrt!
Haben (to have) = Hab!
Werden (to become) = Werd(e)!
Kommen (to come) = Komm!
Sagen (to say) - Sag!
Trinken (to drink) = Trink!
Sprechen (to speak) = Sprich!
Sehen (to see) = Sieh!
Warten (to wait) = Warte!
Gehen (to go) = Geh!
Rufen (to call) = Ruf!
What a whirlwind that was!
As in any language, a lot of this will come naturally the more you put it into practice. However, there's only so much information a book or a blog can hold. The rest is down to memory. That being said, here's another little cheat sheet for you to save and memorise. In the below example, I have used the verb rufen (to call). Try playing around with the imperative form with other verbs. :)
In future blogs, there are more examples which we can cover.
For now, I would encourage you to practice German every day. Even if only for 10-15 minutes a day. You can achieve great things just by practicing a little each day. Save my blog posts for future reference, and don't be afraid to go back and cover any areas again.
As always, I am thankful for you taking the time to read my post. And for sharing this journey of discovering German with me.
Bis bald!
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