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German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas

CEFR A2

What you will learn

  • Recognise the pattern taught in “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” in a short example.
  • Choose the appropriate form from “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” using explicit evidence.
  • Apply and justify the rule from “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” in a new case.

Before you start

  • Have studied “German present tense: endings and stem changes”.

The idea

Form depends on the addressee: du and ihr have morphological imperatives; formulas with Sie and wir use the finite verb before the pronoun.

For du, normally start from the stem: machen→Mach!, warten→Warte! Final -e is possible with many verbs and necessary or preferred where pronunciation requires it. Verbs with e→i/ie keep that change: geben→Gib!, lesen→Lies! Verbs with present-tense a→ä do not keep the umlaut: fahren→Fahr!, schlafen→Schlaf! The pronoun du is omitted unless contrastively stressed.

For ihr, use exactly the present-tense form without the pronoun: ihr macht→Macht!, ihr wartet→Wartet!, ihr lest→Lest! Do not derive it from the du form. With Sie, the polite formula is plural finite form + Sie: Machen Sie!, Warten Sie! Technically this is a request construction with a finite verb and pronoun, not a third imperative ending. With wir, Gehen wir! is a hortative formula for joint action.

Separable verbs keep their prefix at the end: Ruf mich an!, Ruft mich an!, Rufen Sie mich an! Negation is integrated with nicht or kein. sein is irregular: Sei!, Seid!, Seien Sie!, Seien wir!.

An exclamation mark alone does not turn a clause into a command; intonation and particles such as bitte can make a request more polite. The paradigm shows form, not a universal politeness level.

Regular: machen

ItemForm
duMach! / Mache!
ihrMacht!
SieMachen Sie!
wirMachen wir!

Stem in -t/-d: warten

ItemForm
duWarte!
ihrWartet!
SieWarten Sie!
wirWarten wir!

Vowel change e → i: geben

ItemForm
duGib!
ihrGebt!
SieGeben Sie!
wirGeben wir!

Vowel change e → ie: lesen

ItemForm
duLies!
ihrLest!
SieLesen Sie!
wirLesen wir!

Vowel change a → ä: fahren

ItemForm
duFahr!
ihrFahrt!
SieFahren Sie!
wirFahren wir!

Separable: anrufen

ItemForm
duRuf an!
ihrRuft an!
SieRufen Sie an!
wirRufen wir an!

sein (irregular)

ItemForm
duSei!
ihrSeid!
SieSeien Sie!
wirSeien wir!

How it sounds

  • Nimm bitte den zweiten Eingang!nehmen keeps e→i in the du form: nimm.
  • Steigt an der nächsten Haltestelle aus!The ihr form is steigt and prefix aus remains final.
  • Seien Sie bitte pünktlich!sein uses the irregular formal formula Seien Sie.
Three entrances display one key, three keys and a formal seal, with no people.
The addressee determines whether you choose du, ihr or the verb + Sie formula.

Check objective 1

View the illustration

A proposed answer is “Öffnest” for this case: “Öffnest das Fenster! (du, öffnen)”. Choose the only valid form.

Choose an answer

Answer available without interaction

Answer: Öffne — The stem retains -e: öffnen → Öffne!; du is omitted.

The stem retains -e: öffnen → Öffne!; du is omitted.

Check objective 2

View the illustration

A proposed answer is “nimm” for this case: “Kinder, nimm eure Jacken mit! (mitnehmen)”. Choose the only valid form.

Choose an answer

Answer available without interaction

Answer: nehmt — Kinder requires the ihr form nehmt. Separable prefix mit remains final.

Kinder requires the ihr form nehmt. Separable prefix mit remains final.

Check objective 3

View the illustration

A proposed answer is “unterschreibst” for this case: “Frau Stein, unterschreibst Sie bitte hier! (unterschreiben)”. Choose the only valid form.

Choose an answer

Answer available without interaction

Answer: unterschreiben — The formal formula uses plural unterschreiben followed by Sie; prefix un- is not separable.

The formal formula uses plural unterschreiben followed by Sie; prefix un- is not separable.

When it doesn't hold

What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.

  • Verbs that change a in the stem do NOT do it in the imperative.du fährst, aber: Fahr!
  • sein has its own three forms and they must be learnt whole.Sei! Seid! Seien Sie!
  • To suggest something to a group you use the wir form with the verb first.Gehen wir!

What your own language pushes you to say

Wrong Kommen Sie herein!

Right Komm herein!

English has one imperative for everyone, so the choice of person never comes up and the safest looking German form gets used with friends too. Using Sie with a friend sounds as distant as it looks.

Challenge: apply every rule

Solve every case and justify each choice: 1) A proposed answer is “nehmt” for this case: “nehmt das Fenster! (du, öffnen)”. Choose the only valid form. 2) A proposed answer is “nimm” for this case: “Kinder, nimm eure Jacken mit! (mitnehmen)”. Choose the only valid form. 3) A proposed answer is “unterschreibst” for this case: “Frau Stein, unterschreibst Sie bitte hier! (unterschreiben)”. Choose the only valid form.

Answer available without interaction
  • Recognise the pattern taught in “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” in a short example.
  • Choose the appropriate form from “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” using explicit evidence.
  • Apply and justify the rule from “German imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas” in a new case.

Answer: Öffne · nehmt · unterschreiben

The stem retains -e: öffnen → Öffne!; du is omitted. Kinder requires the ihr form nehmt. Separable prefix mit remains final. The formal formula uses plural unterschreiben followed by Sie; prefix un- is not separable.

Continue along this corridor

Practise this: The imperative and German's three «you»: du, ihr, SieGerman two-way prepositions A2