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Verbs - the Imperative Form

Forms of the imperative

The imperative is the form of the verb which you use when you tell someone to do something, e.g. "Make your bed!", "Go away".
The imperative is often written with an exclamation mark in German.

There are three ways of saying 'you' in German:

a    du (to another young person or a relative, or to a pet, or praying to a god)
b    ihr (to two or more young people or relatives - "you folks/guys")
c    Sie (to one or more adults; an adult stranger; someone in a position of authority).

There are therefore three different types of imperative, depending on which German word for 'you' would be used to that person or people:

A
The du imperative is the du part of the verb minus its -st ending:
du kommst ⇨ komm! (Come!)
du bleibst ⇨ bleib! (Stay!)

👉 Verbs with an infinitive ending in -den, -len, -nen, -ten and -cken tend to keep a final -e:

finde / wähle / zeichne / warte / entdecke

German imperative in the du form... <Entdecke die großen Fahrzeuge> ("Discover big vehicles") - a German picture book for small children.

German imperative in the du form... <Lerne das Alphabet> - a German alphabet set for small children.

German imperative in the du form... <Küss mich, Hexe!> ("Kiss me, witch!") - the verb 'küssen' ⇨ du küsst ⇨ Küss!
(Cover of DVD released by Warner Home Video).

German imperative in the du form... <Folge uns auf YouTube!> ("Follow us on YouTube") - the verb 'folgen' ⇨ du folgst ⇨ Folge!
(An advertising leaflet of a supermarket chain in Switzerland)

👉 Verbs that have a vowel change in the du form, keep this in the imperative:

nehmen ⇨ du nimmst ⇨ Nimm die Katze! (Take the cat!)
sehen ⇨ du siehst ⇨ Sieh Seite 47! (See page 47)

German imperative in the du form with vowel change... <Stirb an einem anderen Tag> ("Die Another Day") - the verb 'sterben' ⇨ du stirbst ⇨ Stirb!
(Cover of DVD released by Twentieth Century Fox).

👉 Verbs which add an Umlaut in the du form, do NOT keep it in the imperative:

schlafen ⇨ du schläfst ⇨ schlaf!
fahren ⇨ du fährst ⇨ fahr!

B
The ihr imperative is simply the ihr form of the verb:

ihr kommt ⇨ kommt!
ihr nehmt ⇨ nehmt!
ihr schlaft ⇨ schlaft!

German imperative in the ihr form... <haltet ... räumt ... werft> ("keep ... clear ... throw") - a notice to students (plural!) in a school in the German state of Hessen, asking them to keep the cafeteria tidy.

German imperative in the ihr form... <Rettet die Fische> ("Save the fish") - a German billboard advertisement for a chain of restaurants.

C
The Sie imperative is the Sie form of the verb, with the order of the two words reversed:

Sie kommen ⇨ Kommen Sie!
Sie nehmen ⇨ Nehmen Sie!
Sie schlafen ⇨ Schlafen Sie!

German imperative in the Sie form... <Besuchen Sie uns...> ("Visit us...") - a German sign in a shoe shop in the city of Koblenz.

German imperative in the Sie form... <Bitte nehmen Sie Rücksicht auf... / Werfen Sie das Altglas...> ("Please be considerate of... / Throw used glass...") - a German notice on a glass-recycling collection bin.

German imperative in the Sie form... <Lassen Sie die Manieren nicht im Tal. Fahren Sie rücksichtsvoll.> ("Don't leave your manners down in the valley. Ski with respect for others") - a sign addressing skiers on a ski run in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.

German imperative in the Sie form... <Entdecken Sie die Schweiz> ("Discover Switzerland") - a German sign in a Swiss train, promoting travel by train.

Special things to note

Imperatives of separable verbs

aufstehen ⇨ Steh auf! / Steht auf! / Stehen Sie auf! (Stand up!)

The prefix of a separable verb goes, as usual, to the end of that part of the sentence:

aufräumen ⇨ Räum dein Zimmer auf! (Clear up your room)

mitkommen ⇨ Herr Schmidt! Kommen Sie jetzt bitte mit! (Mr Schmidt! Please come with me now.)

German imperative in the du form... <Komm mit> ("Come with me") - the separable verb 'mitkommen' ⇨ du kommst mit ⇨ Komm mit!
Cover of single released by German YouTuber/Rapper Timo Torres alias "LionT".

Imperatives of reflexive verbs

These keep their reflexive pronouns in the imperative: sich setzen (= to sit down) ⇨ Setz dich / Setzt euch / Setzen Sie sich

Exceptions

An important exception to these rules is the verb sein (to be). Its imperatives are: sein ⇨

du ⇨ Sei ...!

ihr ⇨ Seid ...!

Sie ⇨ Seien Sie ...!

e.g. "Hey Max, sei nicht so doof!" (Don't be so silly)

German imperative in the Sie form... <Seien Sie anspruchsvoll> ("Be sophisticated") - a German billboard advertisement for the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

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