As you will have imagined, this chapter is about the imperative.
Wait...what's this so-called 'imperative'?
It's basically when you tell someone what to do. Go home! Eat up! Sleep! These are all examples of imperatives.
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Polite requests-Sie
In order to ask someone to do something in a polite manner, follow this formula:
conjugate the verb into the 'Sie' (3rd person plural) form, then add Sie (you-formal and also add please (bitte):
Sprechen Sie, bitte! Speak, please!
Essen Sie, bitte! Eat, please!
Lesen Sie, bitte! Read, please!
This form is only for people who wish to talk to their superiors, like bosses, police officers, teachers etc.
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Ihr
Asking more than one person to do something
What about with the personal pronoun, 'ihr'? ('Ere').
Simply state the verb, then remove 'ihr'.
Geht! Go! (you lot)
Esst! Eat!
Arbeitet! Work!
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Wir
What about us? This is the volitional form, expressing exhortation (let's go! let's eat! etc.).
This is so leicht (easy).
Conjugate the verb to the second verb plural (wir-we), then add 'wir'. You literally reverse the order.
Gehen wir! Let's go!
Essen wir! Let's eat!
Arbeiten wir! Let's work!
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Du
The hardest, however, is when you refer to the second person singular (you).
The general rule is to remove the final 'en' of each verb, unless you want to sound politer, then you'll simply remove the 'n'.
Beispiel (example):
Geh(e)! Go!
Arbeit(e)! Work!
Other rules:
1. Some verbs, when conjugated, change the 'e' present within the verb to 'ie' (ich lese, du liest...to read). They remain the same in the imperative, only that you remove the final 'e' and 't'.
Lies! NICHT liese! Read!
2. Some verbs, when conjugated, add an 'umlaut' to the a. In the imperative, this simply does not happen.
Fahren-ich fahre, du fährst...
Fahr! NICHT Fähre!
3. If the verb's root ends with a d/t in the present tense, always add an 'e'.
Warten-to wait
Warte! Wait!
4. The only really irregular verb is sein-to be.
Sei gut! Be good!
Seien wir gut! Let's be good!
Seid gut! Be good! (You lot!)
Seien Sie gut! Be good! (Sir, Madam).
YOU ARE READING
German, the Sexy Way (UNDER RECONSTRUCTION)
Non-FictionHallo! This is Aolani (Alex) and you're about to learn Deutsch! I bet you already knew that word, pronounced 'Doy-tch', didn't you? If not, there's plenty more where that came from. Dialogues, grammar, song translations? All the way up to level B2...
