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Lesson 69

Forming Imperatives: Commands and Requests

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Здравствуйте! Welcome to our next lesson.

In our last session, we mastered using the instrumental case to describe the means by which an action is done, like рисовать карандашом (to draw with a pencil) or ехать поездом (to travel by train). This gave you a powerful tool for describing actions, especially for your hobbies like illustration.

Today, we're shifting from describing how an action is done to telling someone to do an action. We'll be learning about the imperative mood. This is how you form commands and make requests in Russian. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to tell a friend Играй! (Play!) in a video game, or politely ask someone Помогите, пожалуйста! (Help me, please!). This is a fundamental part of practical, everyday Russian.

1. What is the Imperative Mood?

In English, when we give a command, the verb form often doesn't change from its basic form (e.g., "to read" -> "Read!"). In Russian, the verb takes on a special form. The good news is that there are only two main forms to learn for giving direct commands:

  • Informal singular form: Used when talking to one person you know well (using ты).
  • Formal/plural form: Used when talking to a group of people, or one person formally (using вы).

The following short video provides a quick introduction to this concept.

How to Give Commands and Requests | Russian Language

The channel 'Be Fluent in Russian' offers a great starting point by explaining what the imperative is and highlighting the two basic forms.

Watch from the beginning to 03:44. The video will introduce the concept of commands, show the difference between the singular (читай) and plural/formal (читайте) forms, and explain that you simply add -те to create the formal version.

2. How to Form the Imperative

As the video mentioned, forming the imperative isn't always as simple as just changing the infinitive ending. There's a systematic process, which generally depends on the verb's stem and where the stress falls.

The most reliable method is to start with the 3rd person plural (они) form of the verb. Let's break this down into clear rules.

Rule 1: Stem ends in a VOWEL

This is the most straightforward case. For verbs like читать (to read), играть (to play), and работать (to work), the они form ends in -ют.

  • Step 1: Take the они form (e.g., читают).
  • Step 2: Drop the ending -ют. You are left with the stem (чита-).
  • Step 3: Add -й to form the informal singular imperative: читай!
  • Step 4: Add -те to that to get the formal/plural: читайте!

This applies to many first-conjugation verbs you know. For example, related to your interest in gaming:

  • играть (to play) -> они играют -> играй / играйте!

Watch this video for a clear demonstration of this rule with several examples.

Russian Imperative Mood: Читай! Думай!

The video 'Russian Imperative Mood' from 'Russian with Nastya' provides excellent, step-by-step examples for this first rule.

Watch from the beginning until 11:44. The presenter covers five verbs where the stem ends in a vowel, clearly showing how to get from the infinitive to the они form and then to the ты and вы imperative forms.

Rule 2: Stem ends in a CONSONANT

This is where things get a bit more complex and where stress becomes important.

  • Step 1: Take the они form (e.g., говорят, ответят).
  • Step 2: Drop the ending (-ят, -ат). You are left with a consonant stem (говор-, ответ-).
  • Step 3: Now, you must check the stress in the 1st person singular (я) form.
    • If the stress is on the ending, you add -и.
      • Example: говорить (to speak) -> я говор**ю́** (stress on ending) -> говори́!
    • If the stress is on the stem, you add the soft sign, -ь.
      • Example: ответить (to answer) -> я от**ве́**чу (stress on stem) -> ответь!
  • Step 4: As always, add -те for the formal/plural form: говори́те!, отве́тьте!

Let's continue with the same video, which explains this second, more complex rule.

Russian Imperative Mood: Читай! Думай!

Now watch the next segment of the 'Russian with Nastya' video, which deals with consonant stems and the role of stress.

Watch from 11:44 to 20:14. Pay close attention to how she uses the я form to determine whether to add -и or -ь.

This might seem like a lot of steps, but it becomes more intuitive with practice. This table provides a great visual summary of the rules we've just covered.

Table: Formation of the Imperative in Russian
This table neatly summarizes the formation rules for different verb groups. Notice how the endings (`-й`, `-и`, `-ь`) are determined by the verb's structure.

For a detailed text-based explanation that you can review at your own pace, the following resource is excellent.

How to form and use the imperative mood in Russian?

The article 'How to form and use the imperative mood in Russian?' from Mango Languages provides a very thorough and systematic breakdown of the rules we just discussed.

Read the sections titled 'How to use “you” imperatives in Russian?' and 'Some examples of how to form Russian imperative verbs'. This will reinforce the process of finding the base, checking stress, and adding the correct endings. Don't worry about the 'perfective vs. imperfective' distinction for now; we'll cover that in a future module.

3. Irregular Imperatives

As with many areas of Russian grammar, there are some very common verbs whose imperative forms are irregular and simply need to be memorized.

Key irregulars include:

  • быть (to be) -> будь / будьте
  • есть (to eat) -> ешь / ешьте
  • дать (to give) -> дай / дайте
  • пить (to drink) -> пей / пейте
  • идти (to go on foot) -> иди / идите
  • ехать (to go by transport) -> поезжай / поезжайте

The verb иди! (Go!) is extremely common in video games and everyday life.

Russian Imperative Mood: Читай! Думай!

Let's finish the 'Russian with Nastya' video, where she lists some of the most important irregular verbs.

Watch the final part from 20:14 to 23:57. Focus on memorizing these common, irregular forms.

4. Practice Time

Let's apply what you've learned. For each verb, create the correct imperative form based on the context provided.

  1. читать (to read) -> to a friend (ты)
  2. смотреть (to watch) -> to your professor (вы)
  3. помочь (to help) -> to a group of people (вы)
  4. дать (to give) -> to a friend (ты)
  5. идти (to go) -> to a stranger on the street (вы)
Click for answers 1. `Читай!` (Stem `чита-` is a vowel -> add `-й`) 2. `Смотрите!` (Singular is `смотри́` because `я смотрю́`. Add `-те` for formal.) 3. `Помогите!` (Singular is `помоги́` because `я помогу́`. Add `-те`.) 4. `Дай!` (Irregular verb.) 5. `Идите!` (Singular is `иди́`. Add `-те` for formal.)

Remember, a command can be softened into a polite request by adding пожалуйста (please).

  • Дай ручку. (Give me the pen.) -> Sounds demanding.
  • Дайте, пожалуйста, ручку. (Please give me the pen.) -> Polite and appropriate.

Conclusion

Excellent work! You can now form one of the most practical and common verb moods in Russian.

Key Takeaways:

  • The imperative mood is used for commands, requests, and instructions.
  • There are two main forms: informal singular (ты) and formal/plural (вы).
  • To form the imperative, start with the они form, drop the ending, and add:
    • -й if the stem ends in a vowel.
    • -и if the stem ends in a consonant and the stress in the я form is on the ending.
    • -ь if the stem ends in a consonant and the stress in the я form is on the stem.
  • Add -те to any singular imperative to make it formal or plural.
  • Some crucial verbs like дать, есть, and идти have irregular forms that must be memorized.

Preview of the next lesson:
Now that you can form statements, ask questions, and give commands, the next logical step is to start connecting your ideas. In our next lesson, we will learn how to use essential conjunctions like но (but), потому что (because), and когда (when) to build more complex and expressive sentences.