Imperative Sentences in German

1. Formal Command

This is the imperative that we learned in Chapter One, the Sie-command. When you address one OR several people in a formal manner, you must use this form. The verb takes the -en ending of the Sie form, and the pronoun Sie is always placed immediately after the verb, exactly as in an interrogative sentence.

2. Familiar Command - Singular

When you are on a du basis with someone, the familiar singular command is used. This command is formed by removing the -st ending from the present tense of the du form, which leaves just the basic stem. The personal pronoun is not used -- just the verb itself.

Note: verbs that end in a -t or -d, or a consonant cluster like -fn, retain the additional -e- that was added to facilitate pronunciation:

You may also see an -e ending on other verbs in the command form, especially in conversational German, but it’s optional and technically should only be added to verbs with a -t, -d or consonant cluster ending.

Note on stem-changing verbs: verbs that have a vowel change from e > i or e > ie retain this change in the familiar singular command.

However, verbs whose stem vowel changes from a > ä do not retain this change in the imperative.

3. Familiar Command - Plural

When you address several persons with whom you are on a du basis, the familiar plural command is used. This command has exactly the same form as the ihr conjugation, with the personal pronoun dropped.

This is the easiest of the command forms, since it is exactly the same as the conjugated ihr-form, just without the pronoun!

4. Mild Commands

When expressing the form “let us” (let’s eat!) the first person plural (wir) with an inverted word order is used.

5. Command forms of SEIN

The command forms of sein are slightly irregular: the Sie and wir forms are different than you would expect. The command forms for “be!” are:

Note on separable-prefix verbs: if there is a separable prefix attached to the verb, it functions in the normal manner and appears after the command form. This holds true for all command forms (Sie, ihr, du, wir):