How to form imperative sentences in Mandarin Chinese?

An imperative sentence is used to tell someone to do or not to do something, and it is formed by issuing a command or instruction, making a request, or offering advice. Imperative sentences can end with a period or an exclamation mark. These sentences are also called “directives,” because they provide direction to the addressees.

For example, “Please pass the pepper,” “Be there at 10,” and “Clean your room” are all imperatives. Among the three sentences, the first one is relatively polite, using “please.” The remaining two sentences are direct, and they are probably used between close friends or a parent and a child. Sooo, how to use an imperative sentence is important in terms of the effect of your request, advice, command, or instruction.

In this post, we will talk about what imperative sentences look like and their functions. In Mandarin, there are two main types of imperative sentences:

This post will also cover embedded imperative sentences, formed with 叫 (transcribed jiào, meaning “call/ask”), ràng (meaning let/ask), and 请 (transcribed qǐng, meaning “invite/ask”). These are not direct requests, but a description of a request embedded in a sentence. For example:

• 叫 (transcribed jiào, meaning “call/ask”):

  妈妈叫他回家吃饭。

  Transcription: Māma jiào tā huíjiā chīfàn.

  Translation: Mom called him home for dinner.

• 让 (transcribed ràng, meaning “let/ask”):

  老师让我回答问题。

  Transcription: Lǎoshī ràng wǒ huídá wèntí.

  Translation: The teacher asked me to answer questions.

• 请 (transcribed qǐng, meaning “invite/ask”):

  他请我跳舞。

  Transcription: Tā qǐng wǒ tiàowǔ.

  Translation: He invited me to dance.

Knowing how to make an imperative and embedded imperative sentence appropriately in Mandarin can make your request clearly understood so it can be done for you. Read on to learn more!

Imperative sentences in Mandarin can be used with both positive and negative forms. They are similar to an English imperative sentence: they use an action word only (e.g., “you go” → “Go!”), the subject can be omitted (e.g., “you speak” → “Speak!”), and “don’t” is used to form a negative command (e.g. “Go!” → “Don’t go!”), etc. In imperative sentences, when the subject is “you,” it can be omitted. This is because “you” is understood when the speaker addresses the listener directly.

The negative forms of imperatives primarily consist of the characters 别 (transcribed bié, meaning “don’t”) and 不要 (transcribed bùyào, meaning “don’t”). 不要 (transcribed bùyào) literally means “not want.” These two characters are interchangeable and are always placed before the action word, i.e the verb, in the sentence. The first two sentences in the above table simply add 别 (transcribed bié) or 不要 (transcribed bùyào) in front of the positive form:

However, the last two sentences in the table above are not add-ons. They use different words:

Changing the words helps the commands make sense. Otherwise, they would be "don't be quiet" or “don’t be careful.” So, to make a negative command, instead of simply adding “don’t” to the original positive word, you may also need to change the original positive word, depending on the context.

If you want to tell someone to stop doing something because you’ve had enough, you can place 了 (transcribed le) at the end of a negative imperative sentence

In Mandarin, sentences with embedded imperatives use verbs such as 叫 (transcribed jiào, meaning “call/ask”), 让 (transcribed ràng, meaning “let/ask”), and 请 (transcribed qǐng, meaning “invite/ask”) in order to cause or urge people to do things. In English, we have the imperative "buy some bread," along with the sentence, "Mom asked me to buy some bread." Do you see how the imperative is embedded within the longer sentence?

The general pattern of embedded imperatives is as follows:

Among these three verbs, 请 (transcribed qǐng) seems most respectful, and 让 (transcribed ràng) and 叫 (transcribed jiào) are used more in spoken Mandarin. Knowing the different meanings and levels of formality among these verbs will help you to use them appropriately.

Embedded imperatives are part of the so-called pivotal constructions. You can find more information on that in our post.

The usual two words used in negation can also make negative forms of 叫 (transcribed jiào, meaning “call/ask”), 让 (transcribed ràng, meaning “let/ask”), and 请 (transcribed qǐng, meaning “invite/ask”): 不 (transcribed bù, meaning “do not”) and 没 (transcribed méi, meaning “did not”). The former is used for present and future events, and the latter is used for past events. These two negation words are always placed before 叫/让/请. For example:

When you yourself want to tell someone to do something, you can use imperative sentences. In Mandarin, you can use the direct form of an imperative or the polite form of an imperative by adding words like 请, 麻烦, 吧, 可以吗, 一点, 一下, and reduplication of verbs.

Imperative sentences have positive and negative forms: the former tells people to do something, the latter tells people not to do something by adding the words 别 and 不要 or by using words with opposite meaning.

When you want to describe someone else telling people to do something, you can use embedded imperative sentences. Three words serve this purpose: 叫, 让, 请. The negative form of an embedded imperative involves using 不 (present and future events) and 没 (past events). The rule is the negation words are always placed before the expressions they negate, this applies to 别 / 不要, as well as to 不 / 没.

Right, enough talking, now let’s get down to practice. Try out these exercises to help you practice using imperatives in Mandarin Chinese!