In German, imperatives are used for commands and requests. You might use the imperative to order someone to take out the trash or be quiet for a second. With the correct imperative form at hand, you are one step closer to what you need!
German imperatives work very much like in English but there are quite a few differences. For instance, just like German has three “you” pronouns, German has three different forms for the imperative, where English has just one:
Commanding one person | Komm! | Schlaf! |
Commanding two people | Kommt! | Schlaft! |
Formal command | Kommen Sie! | Schlafen Sie! |
English | Come! | Sleep! |
Let’s have a look at how we use the imperative in German!
The imperative in German: What is it and what forms can it take?
The imperative is a verb form used for commands and requests. In English, the imperative looks just like the present tense “you” form of the verb, but it is used without a subject pronoun and is usually followed by an exclamation mark:
“You come here.”
“Come here!”
Like English, the German imperative usually isn’t used with a subject pronoun (except for the polite form!). But unlike English, the German imperative is represented by three unique verb forms — one for each “you” pronoun (du, ihr, Sie):
| "you" | Used For… | Example: spielen meaning to play |
|---|---|---|
du | Commanding one person | Spiel(e)! |
ihr | Commanding two people | Spielt! |
Sie | Formal command | Spielen Sie! |
Not only are there three separate forms in German, but those three forms aren’t conveniently borrowed from one of the verb tenses: the imperative forms above are unique to commands.
When to use formal imperatives in German?
In German, we usually use formal imperatives to give commands to:
people you do not know (yet)
with elderly or other generally respected people
with your boss, even when you know them well
The distinction between du and ihr commands is pretty straightforward, but learning when to abandon the familiar in favor of the formal can take a bit more practice. Check out our post on politeness in German for more discussion of this!
How to form the imperative in German?
The form of the imperative in German will depend on whether you are forming the du-imperative (commanding one person), the ihr-imperative (commanding a group), or the Sie-imperative (a formal command for a person or group). Follow the table below:
| Familiar | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | -(e) | infinitive + Sie |
| Plural | -(e)t |
One verb, sein has is fully irregular imperative forms:
| Infinitive | du-imperative | ihr-imperative | Sie-imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
sein meaning to be | Sei nett! Translation: Be nice! | Seid nett! Translation: Be nice! | Seien Sie nett! Translation: Be nice, Sir/Ma’am! |
Other than that, though, the forms are straightforward. Below, we’ll go through a couple details, but luckily the rules we’ll teach you have no exceptions!
Do German commands require a subject pronoun?
In the polite form, you always need to use the subject pronoun Sie.
For the familiar forms, though, there’s no need to use the pronouns du and ihr. Much like in English, though, the subject pronoun can be added for emphasis or when the addressee is unclear:
- 'du'-imperativeKomm (du) mal bitte her!Translation: Would you please come over here?
- 'ihr'-imperativeMacht (ihr) das ruhig!Translation: You guys should just do it!
When to add ‘-e’ to familiar imperatives?
In the singular and plural familiar imperatives, some forms will have an -e while other forms will not. Follow the rules below!
The -e is required in both the singular and the plural, when the verb stem ends in a -t or in a consonant cluster (e.g. -chn, -fn, or -tm). This helps you pronounce the imperative:
Infinitive
-t / clusterSingular
-e requiredPlural
-et onlyarbeitenTranslation: to workArbeite!Arbeitet!rechnenTranslation: to calculateRechne!Rechnet!öffnenTranslation: to openÖffne!Öffnet!atmenTranslation: to breatheAtme!Atmet!The -e is required in the singular form, but is not used in the plural of verbs ending in -ern or -eln (which are usually borrowed words).
Infinitive
-ern / -elnSingular
-e optionalPlural
-t onlywandernTranslation: to hike- Wandre!
- Wandere!
Wandert!googelnTranslation: to google- Google!
- Googele!
Googlelt!Notice also that in verbs like this, the e from the -ern/-eln ending itself is usually dropped in the du-imperative (though it is allowed to appear).
With all other verbs, the singular -e is 100% optional in the singular form, but it is never included in the plural. Usually dropping the -e in the singular is considered more colloquial.
Infinitive Singular Plural machenTranslation: to make, do- Mach!
- Mache!
Macht!singenTranslation: to sing- Sing!
- Singe!
Singt!denkenTranslation: to drink- Denk!
- Denke!
Denkt!
Which verbs undergo a vowel change in the ‘du’-imperative?
You may recall that some irregular verbs undergo a vowel change in the present tense du-form, where the e vowel in the stem becomes (e)i in the du form. The same change affects the du-imperative (but only the du-imperative) of these verbs!
| Infinitive | du-imperative | ihr-imperative | Sie-imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
nehmen Translation: to take | Nimm! | Nehmt! | Nehmen Sie! |
helfen Translation: to help | Hilf! | Helft! | Helfen Sie! |
essen Translation: to eat | Iss! | Esst! | Essen Sie! |
lesen Translation: to read | Lies! | Lesen Sie! | Lesen Sie! |
However, the verbs that acquire an umlaut in the du-form of the present tense (e.g. a → ä) do not acquire an umlaut in the imperative.
| Infinitive | du-imperative | dupresent tense |
|---|---|---|
fahren Translation: to drive | Nimm! | Nehmt! |
stoßen Translation: to push, poke | Stoß(e)! | du stößt |
How to use separable prefix verbs in the imperative?
When using a separable-prefix verb in the imperative, the prefix will always come at the end of the sentence:
How to soften the imperative sentences in German?
Just like in English, the bare imperative sounds quite harsh in German. Therefore, we like to add certain magic words to soften the tone. These magic words are bitte meaning please, doch meaning come on, and mal meaning once These words can also be combined for an even better tone. For example:
- Komm bitte her!Translation: Please come here!
- Komm mal her!Translation: (I’d appreciate it if you could) come here.
- Komm doch her!Translation: Come here please, would you?
- Komm doch mal bitte her!Translation: Please come over here!
How to form negative imperatives in German?
Forming negative imperatives (e.g. “Don’t spill that!”) is easy: just add nicht! You can add it after the imperative, after pronouns, and after all the magic words, generally following the principles discussed in our article “How to use negation in German?”.
- Iss nicht so viel!Translation: Don’t eat so much!
- Komm bitte nicht mit!Translation: Please don’t come with us/me!
- Sei doch mal bitte nicht so unfair!Translation: Please don’t come with us/me!
Summary
Today, we have covered everything you need to know about how the imperative works in German:
There are three forms: familiar singular (du), familiar plural (ihr), and polite (Sie). The one you use depends on politeness and the number of people you’re talking to.
The imperative is quite regular. You’ll usually use the following rules:
du-imperative → add -e / -∅
ihr-imperative → add -(e)t
Sie-imperative → use infinitive + Sie
Use the magic words bitte, doch, and mal to make your imperative sound softer and sound much more like a native!
Ready to practice? Check out our German imperative activities to test your knowledge!
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