Imperative Mood
If you're wondering what the word 'imperative' means, in grammar, imperatives are verbs that are used to tell somebody what to do or not to do.
What Is Imperative Mood?
The imperative is a verbal mood in English grammar. It is the most direct way one can give orders or make somebody do or not do something.
Imperatives: Structure
Tip!
The subject in imperative sentences is always implied to be talking about 'you.'
(You)
Imperatives: Negation
To make a negative imperative sentence, you only need to add 'Do not' or 'Don't' before the imperative verb.
Imperatives: Uses
Imperatives can be used:
- to give orders
- to give directions
- to give instructions
- to give advice
- to give suggestions
- to give warnings
- to give requests
- to invite somebody
To Give Orders
We use imperatives to give orders or commands. When we want to tell someone what to do or what not to do, we use imperatives.
Tip!
When we use the emphatic do auxiliary, it makes an imperative sound more polite and more formal:
To Give Directions
When we want to give an address and directions to a particular place, we use the imperatives.
Here, it is OK if you do not use the word 'please' in your sentences.
Here, the speaker is helping not giving orders.
To Give Instructions
If we want to give detailed instructions on how to do or use something, we can use the imperatives. For example in cooking recipes or an electronic device manual. Look at the example:
To Give Advice and Suggestions
If you want to give an opinion or suggestion about what somebody should do in a particular situation, you can use the imperatives.
a sentence in the imperative mood
To Give Warnings
If you want to tell somebody that something bad or unpleasant may happen in the future so that they can try to avoid it, you can use the imperatives.
To Make Requests
A request is the action of asking for something formally and politely. Its difference with 'order' or 'command' lies in the word 'please.' When you use 'please' in your imperative sentence, it makes your sentence more polite or more formal.
Please
To Invite Somebody
In a very informal or friendly situation, you can use the imperatives to invite somebody to do something.
To Give Orders Politely
Because imperatives are a very direct way to give orders, we can use other expressions such as 'just,' 'please,' and 'if you don't mind' in order to make it more polite.
Just
Imperatives with Do
Imperatives with Subject Pronouns
We can add a subject pronoun, especially subject pronoun 'you' to put emphasis on our imperative sentence. Try not to sound rude. This imperative sentence structure is only used for a strong and decisive order.
Imperatives with Indefinite Pronouns
In some situations, we must speak to a group of people. In that case, we use imperatives with indefinite pronouns like somebody, everybody, and all. In this case, the verb does not take the 's' for third person singular.
Because it's an imperative sentence, we did not say 'calls'.
Imperatives: Exhortative
Exhortatives means trying very hard to persuade somebody to do something. The exhortative imperative is a kind of formal imperative that only implies that the subject of our sentence is the first person plural. Its structure is 'Let's (or Let us) + the base form of the verb.'
The speaker is trying to encourage us to review the points, here.
To make the exhortative imperative negative, you only need to put 'not' between 'let' and the verb.
'Let's' is the contracted form of 'Let us'.
Tip
When the subject following the verb 'let' is anything other than 'us,' it is no longer the exhortative imperative and it means 'to allow' and is used for offering help to somebody.
Review
The imperative is a verbal mood in English grammar. It is the most direct way one can give orders or make somebody do or not to do something.
Imperative Structure
The imperative is actually the base form of the verb at the beginning of the sentence.
Remember we do not mention the subject because it is always the pronoun 'you.'
Uses
| To give orders |
|
|---|---|
| To give directions |
|
| To give Instructions |
|
| To give Advice and Suggestions |
|
| To give Warnings |
|
| To make Requests |
Please |
| To invite Somebody |
|
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