Verbs: Imperative Mood — German Grammar

The imperative mood is used to give direct orders, make requests, or offer advice. In German, the form of the verb changes depending on who you are addressing: one person informally, a group informally, or anyone formally.

Addressing One Person Informally (Du)

When giving a command to a single person you know well (family, friends, children), use the verb stem of the present tense form. You must remove the ending and the pronoun .

Komm schnell her!
Come here quickly!
Schlaf gut!
Sleep well!

If the verb stem ends in , , or , adding an to the end is required to make it pronounceable. For other verbs, this is optional and often dropped in spoken language, though it may appear in writing.

Antworte mir!
Answer me!
Entschuldige bitte.
Excuse me, please.

Vowel Changes

If a verb changes its vowel from to or in the present tense (like becoming ), this change is kept in the imperative. However, verbs that add an umlaut (like to ) lose that umlaut in the imperative.

Hilf mir mal!
Help me for a second!
Lies den Text!
Read the text!
Fahr nicht so schnell!
Don't drive so fast! (No umlaut)

Addressing a Group Informally (Ihr)

When speaking to more than one person informally, use the standard (you plural) form of the verb, but simply omit the pronoun . There are no stem changes or exceptions here.

Geht nach Hause!
Go home!
Macht die Hausaufgaben!
Do the homework!
Wartet auf mich!
Wait for me!

Formal Commands (Sie)

When addressing strangers, authority figures, or anyone you use with, the imperative is formed by swapping the verb and the pronoun. It looks exactly like a question, but the intonation is different. You must always keep the pronoun .

Sprechen Sie bitte langsamer.
Please speak more slowly.
Nehmen Sie Platz.
Take a seat.

Suggestions (Wir)

To say "Let's do something," use the form. Like the formal command, the verb comes before the pronoun.

Gehen wir!
Let's go!
Essen wir heute Pizza!
Let's eat pizza today!

Separable Verbs

If the verb has a separable prefix (like or ), the prefix moves to the very end of the sentence, regardless of which imperative form you are using.

Steh sofort auf!
Stand up immediately!
Hören Sie gut zu!
Listen closely!

The Irregular Verb 'Sein'

The verb (to be) is irregular in the imperative and does not follow the standard rules.

(Singular informal): - Don't be sad!
(Plural informal): - Be quiet!
(Formal): - Be careful!

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s German course

50 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 23. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Imperative Mood” is about in bold:

Ja. Lass uns Chinesisch essen gehen!
Yes. Let's eat Chinese food.
Lesson 127
Seht euch die Küche an! Sie ist so klein.
Go and check out (pl.) the kitchen. It is so small.
Lesson 322
Iss das nicht! Das ist Schweinefleisch!
Don't eat that! That's pork!
Lesson 366

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