The imperative is a mood used to give orders and advice. Need an example? Think about your parents:
- Non rientrare tardi!Translation: Don’t come back home late!
- Mangia la verdura!Translation: Eat your greens!
Or, think about your teacher, or best friend:
- Aprite il libro!Translation: Open your book!
- Rilassati! Andrà tutto bene!Translation: Relax! Everything is going to be okay!
Got the idea? Great! Let’s now dive into the empire of the imperative and learn how to form it and use it!
What are the uses of the imperative in Italian?
First of all, let’s see in detail when the imperative is used in Italian:
| Uses of the imperative | Examples |
|---|---|
to give commands or orders | Bambini, fate silenzio! Translation: Kids, be quiet!! |
to give advice or suggestions | Parla con i tuoi genitori! È la cosa giusta da fare. Translation: Talk to your parents! It’s the right thing to do. |
to give instructions (recipes or directions) |
|
How does the imperative work?
The imperative works a little differently than other Italian verbs. Let’s go over its peculiar features:
Like in English, commands — as well as advice — have no subject pronouns:
Apri la finestra!Translation: Open the window!The imperative has four forms, one for tu meaning informal, singular "you", one for Lei meaning formal, singular "you", one for noi meaning we, and one for voi meaning plural "you". Compare:
- tuChiudi la porta!Translation: Shut the door!
- LeiChiuda la porta!Translation: Shut the door!
- noiChiudiamo la porta!Translation: Let’s shut the door!
- voiChiudete la porta!Translation: Shut the door!
Finally, mind your manners: with people you don’t know well, the imperative might sound a bit blunt, if not rude.
Adding per favore, per piacere, or per cortesia —all three expressions meaning “please”— always helps. But when in doubt, you can use the present conditional or the present indicative instead. At the restaurant, for instance, you could say:
🙂 Mi dia il menu, per favore.Translation: Give me a menu, please.But it would be even more polite to say:
- present indicativepresent conditional😇 Può/Potrebbe darmi il menu?Translation: Can/Could you give me the menu?
- present indicativepresent conditional😇 Posso/Potrei avere il menu?Translation: Can/Could I have the menu?
Now that we have discussed the basics, let’s see how to conjugate verbs in the imperative mood.
How to form the informal (‘tu,’ ‘noi,’ ‘voi’) imperative in Italian?
The informal imperative forms are the same as the present indicative forms of the verb, just without the subject pronoun (so, without tu, noi, and voi.)
| Subject Pronoun | -are verbs | -ere verbs | -ire verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| tu | Parla lentamente! Translation: Speak slowly! | Chiudi la porta! Translation: Close the door! | Pulisci la tua camera! Translation: Clean your bedroom! |
| noi | Parliamo lentamente! Translation: Let’s speak slowly! | Chiudiamo la porta! Translation: Let’s close the door! | Puliamo la nostra camera! Translation: Let’s clean our bedroom! |
| voi | Parlate lentamente! Translation: Speak slowly! | Chiudete la porta! Translation: Close the door! | Pulite la vostra camera! Translation: Clean your bedroom! |
To form a negative informal imperative, place non before the verb. When using the noi and voi forms, the imperative verb itself is the same as in an affirmative command:
The verb in a negative tu command, however, changes its form. Instead of using the affirmative imperative form of the verb, use the infinitive of the verb after non:
How to form the formal (‘Lei’) imperative in Italian?
The formal — or polite — imperative is the one you use when addressing someone with Lei. To form it, you drop the infinitive ending and add -i to -are verbs and -a to -ere and -ire verbs.
| -are verbs | -ere verbs | -ire verbs |
|---|---|---|
Signore, firmi qui, per favore. Translation: Sir, sign here, please. | Signora, chiuda la porta. Translation: Madam, close the door. | Signor Mari, finisca di scrivere. Translation: Mr. Mari, stop writing. |
To form a negative formal imperative, you just add non before the verb, which does not change.
Are there irregular imperative verbs in Italian?
There are some Italian verbs that have irregular imperative forms! Here’s a list of verbs with irregular imperative forms for you. Spoiler: it's a pretty short list!
How to use pronouns with the Italian imperative?
There are a few things to pay attention to when dealing with pronouns in the imperative:
With verbs in the informal imperative, Italian reflexive pronouns and object pronouns attach to the end of the verb.
- Simone, lavati le mani!Translation: Simone, wash your hands!
- Bambini, leggetelo per domani!Translation: Kids, read it by tomorrow!
In informal negative imperative sentences, the pronoun can precede or follow (being attached to) the verb.
✅ Simone, non ti lavare le mani!Translation: Simone, do not wash your hands!✅ Simone, non lavarti le mani!Translation: Simone, do not wash your hands!In the formal imperative, though, pronouns always precede the verb.
- Signore, si lavi le mani, per favore!Translation: Sir, wash your hands, please!
- Signora, lo legga per domani, per piacere!Translation: Madame, read it by tomorrow, please!
- Signore, non si appoggi lì!Translation: Sir, do not lean there!
Summary
The imperative is used to give orders and advice and, just as in English, you don’t need subject pronouns to form it. Let’s sum up what we covered:
The imperative is mostly used in the tu, voi, and Lei form.
For tu and voi, the imperative is like the present tense, with the exception of the tu form of -are verbs, which ends in -a.
With Lei, you drop the infinitive ending and add -i to -are verbs and -a to -ere and -ire verbs.
The negative imperative looks like this: non + infinitive for tu; non + regular imperative verb for voi and Lei
We’ve now seen the theory; here’s some practice on the Italian imperative for you!
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