#Imperative german grammar how to

The statement always starts with “ Lass uns“. Lass uns gehen! (Let’s go!) The action verb is always in infinitive form and goes at the end. So, if you want to sound like a native, say the same sentence this way. However, native German speakers prefer to use the verb lassen (to let / to leave). This is the simplest way to build a wir – imperative statement. This form is equivalent to English sentences beginning with “ Let’s. It is formed with verb in the infinitive form + wir. Wir imperative form is used when you want to address a group including yourself. But, there is one more German imperative form for the first person plural – wir. These 3 are the most commonly used forms. Pick up your aunt from the train station! Here are a few sentences for you:- English For instance, sammeln – samm(e)le, feiern – fei(e)re etc. But, the -e in the verb stem is often omitted in spoken German. Verbs ending in -eln or -ern also have an additional -e at the end of the stem.For example, atmen – atme, zeichnen – zeichne etc. If the verb stem ends in -tm, -fn, -dn or -chn, even then we add an -e after the stem.For example, arbeiten – arbeite, senden – sende etc. If the verb stem ends in -d or -t, then we add an -e after the stem.If the vowel change is from a to ä (adding an umlaut), then it does not occur in the imperative.For instance, nehmen – nimm, lesen – lies etc. Any vowel changes in the stem of the strong verbs also occur in their imperative forms.As mentioned earlier, you need to watch out for exceptions. However, it’s not so easy for irregular verbs. Gehen becomes Geh, Lernen becomes Lern and so on. The du imperative forms of regular or weak verbs are simple. It is formed by removing the ending -st from the verb stem. However, the pronoun ihr is dropped.ĭu imperative form (informal) is a bit tricky, because there are some exceptions. Ihr imperative form (informal) stays the same as its present tense form. Here are a few examples for you:- English The imperative for Sie is formed with the verb in the infinitive form + Sie. It takes second position in the sentence, i.e comes after the verb. Sie imperative form (formal) is the only form where the personal pronoun appears in the sentence.

Now, let’s study these 4 forms in detail. Apart from these three, there is another form of address – Wir (We). “ Sie” is used in formal situations and “ du” or “ ihr” are used in informal situations. German imperative forms are used in formal as well as informal scenarios. The imperative of modal verbs does not exist. In such cases, simply add the word “ nicht” after the verb.

Building a sentence with negation means telling someone what not to do.

Similar to other tenses, the prefix of the separable verb goes at the end of the imperative sentence.

There is an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.

Imperative sentences always begin with the verb (present tense).

Before learning conjugations, the most important things to remember are:.

#Imperative german grammar how to

This section will cover how to conjugate the imperative forms of German verbs.

Just like three forms of address, there are 3 forms of imperative for “you” in German. But with regular practice, you’ll ace it too! Building German imperative phrases may seem a little difficult and tricky at first. However, there are three forms of address in German – du, ihr and Sie. Thus, there is only one imperative form in English. Consider English! It has only one form of address, which is “you”. Giving instructions in your native language is extremely easy. In addition to this, German imperative is also used if you want to encourage someone. On the contrary, imperative expressions are needed to respond to rudeness and sound aggressive. For example, Please send the report by 5 pm! ( Sende bitte den Bericht bis 17 Uhr!) Use the word please ( bitte) to sound polite. In the process of giving orders or instructions to get something done, you might sound arrogant to some people. For instance, when you want someone to do something, you say – Do it! ( Mach das!) German imperative is used when you want to give commands, orders, advice or instructions.

How to Form German Imperative Sentences.