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Lesson 46

Giving Commands: The Imperative Mood

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In our previous lesson, you learned how to articulate pain and health complaints, such as "Mir tut der Zahn weh." This is a vital skill for anyone needing to seek medical help. Today, we'll explore the other side of that conversation: giving instructions and making requests. This lesson will focus on forming commands using the imperative mood, which is essential for understanding a doctor's advice, giving instructions in your future dental practice, and navigating countless everyday situations in Germany.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to form commands and requests using the imperative for the formal Sie and the informal du (you, singular) and ihr (you, plural). This grammatical tool will make your interactions more direct and effective.

1. The Imperative in Context: Giving Advice

The imperative is the verb form we use to give a command, make a request, or offer advice. It’s the difference between "you go" and "Go!" In German, as in English, this is common in health-related contexts.

To see how this works naturally, let's look at a forum where people are giving health advice.

[PDF] 13 Gesundheit und Krankheit - Hueber Verlag

This excerpt from a German textbook shows a forum where users ask for help and others respond with tips. It's a perfect example of the imperative in real-world use.

First, read the forum posts on the first page. Notice how Markus gives advice to Stefan, who has headaches. He says things like "Mach regelmäßig Pausen! ... Geh viel spazieren und hör Musik!". Then, look at the advice Katharina gives to Sabine Z. Because she is addressing an adult she doesn't know, she uses the formal Sie form: "Essen Sie vernünftig!" and "machen Sie Sport: Gehen Sie joggen, fahren Sie Fahrrad!". These examples highlight the two main categories of the imperative we will study: informal (du) and formal (Sie).

2. The Formal Imperative: Sie

The formal Sie imperative is the most straightforward to form and is crucial for professional settings, such as a dental office, or when addressing strangers, officials, or elders.

The rule is simple: Infinitive Verb + Sie. You take the standard present tense sentence structure (e.g., Sie kommen) and invert it (Kommen Sie!).

This video provides an excellent explanation.

Imperativ Deutsch | How to form the German Imperative? | Formal and Informal

The "YourGermanTeacher" channel breaks down the imperative forms clearly. We will start with the formal Sie.

Watch the segment from "the formal 'Sie'". The instructor explains the formation rule and provides a very relevant example of a doctor advising a patient: Machen Sie mehr Sport! (Do more sports!) and Essen Sie mehr Vitamine! (Eat more vitamins!).

The only common verb that is highly irregular in the formal imperative is sein (to be). Its imperative form is Seien Sie!.

  • Seien Sie vorsichtig. (Be careful.)
  • Seien Sie pünktlich. (Be on time.)

Now, let's apply this in a context directly related to your field. Imagine you are the dentist giving instructions to a patient.

Grammatikübung - Imperativ - "Was sagt der Arzt?" - Deutsche Grammatik 2.0

This online exercise provides a list of typical instructions given by a doctor. It's perfect practice for the formal imperative.

Look at the list of phrases from 01 to 08. Your task is to transform these verb phrases into formal commands using the Sie imperative. For example, the phrase sich setzen (to sit down) becomes "Setzen Sie sich." Try converting these yourself: 02. Oberkörper frei machen (to bare the upper body) tief einatmen (to breathe in deeply) Mund ganz weit aufmachen (to open the mouth very wide) You will find that the instruction Mund ganz weit aufmachen becomes "Machen Sie den Mund ganz weit auf!"—a phrase you will certainly use many times in your career.

3. The Informal Imperatives: du and ihr

When speaking to friends, family, children, or peers, you will use the informal imperatives for du (one person) and ihr (multiple people).

The ihr Imperative (Plural Informal)

Let's start with the easier one. The ihr imperative is identical to the present tense ihr form. You just state the conjugated verb.

  • ihr kommt (you all come) -> Kommt! (Come!)
  • ihr macht (you all do) -> Macht! (Do it!)
  • ihr esst (you all eat) -> Esst! (Eat!)

The du Imperative (Singular Informal)

The du form has a few more rules, but they are very logical.

  1. Regular Verbs: For most verbs, you take the du form in the present tense (e.g., du machst) and simply drop the -st.

    • du machst -> Mach!
    • du gehst -> Geh!
    • du kaufst -> Kauf!

  2. Strong Verbs with Vowel Change:

    • Verbs that change from e -> i/ie in the present tense (like geben, sprechen, lesen) keep this change in the imperative.
      • du gibst -> Gib! (Give!)
      • du sprichst -> Sprich! (Speak!)
    • Verbs that add an Umlaut (like fahren, laufen, schlafen) drop the Umlaut.
      • du fährst -> Fahr! (Drive!)
      • du schläfst -> Schlaf! (Sleep!)

  3. Important Irregulars: As always, sein and haben are special.

    • sein -> Sei! (Be!) -> Sei leise! (Be quiet!)
    • haben -> Hab! (Have!) -> Hab keine Angst! (Don't be afraid!)

The following images provide excellent summaries of these rules.

This chart clearly lays out the `du`, `ihr`, and `Sie` imperative forms for regular, separable, special, and irregular verbs.
This table shows how the imperative forms are derived from the infinitive, highlighting strong verbs with vowel changes.

4. Practice and Reinforcement

Now that you've seen the rules, let's practice recognizing and forming these commands.

First, let's do some listening practice. The following video rapidly goes through many health-related commands.

Deutsch lernen / Ich brauche einen Termin beim Arzt! / Imperativ / Krankheit und Unfälle

This "Hallo Deutschschule" video is a great tool for auditory reinforcement. It presents commands with both text and images.

Watch the segment from Go to the doctor!. As you listen, try to identify whether the command is formal (Sie) or informal (du/ihr). For example, you will hear Geh zum Arzt! (informal du) followed by Gehen Sie zum Arzt! (formal Sie), and Trink mehr Wasser! (du) followed by Trinken Sie mehr Wasser! (Sie). This will train your ear to catch the differences.

Next, let's try a short written exercise. You will give advice to a friend who is always tired.

[PDF] 13 Gesundheit und Krankheit - Hueber Verlag

This exercise from the textbook asks you to fill in the blanks using the correct du imperative form of the verbs provided in parentheses.

Find exercise 21, which starts with the text "Hi Tina, ich bin zurzeit immer so müde!". Read the response and fill in the blanks (1) through (7). For example, for (1) (gehen), the correct imperative is Geh. Pay special attention to the separable verb in (6) (anrufen). You can check your answers below.

Answers for Exercise 21:

  1. Geh
  2. Schlaf
  3. Trink
  4. Arbeite (Note: stem ends in -t, so the -e is kept for pronunciation)
  5. nimm
  6. ruf ... an
  7. mach

Conclusion

In this lesson, you've mastered a fundamental aspect of German grammar: the imperative mood. You can now confidently give instructions and make requests in both formal and informal contexts.

Key Takeaways:

  • The imperative is used for commands, requests, and advice.
  • Formal (Sie): Invert the verb and pronoun: Infinitive + Sie! (e.g., Machen Sie!). The exception is Seien Sie!.
  • Informal (ihr): Use the present tense ihr form (e.g., Macht!).
  • Informal (du): Drop the -st from the present tense form (e.g., Mach!). Remember to keep vowel changes like e -> i (Gib!) but drop umlauts (Fahr!). Key irregulars are Sei! and Hab!.

In our next lesson, we will put this knowledge to immediate practical use. You will learn the key phrases for requesting, suggesting, and confirming an appointment, a scenario where the imperative (Rufen Sie mich an!, Kommen Sie bitte um 10 Uhr!) is indispensable.