Imperatives - Lesson

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اللهم انفعنا بما علمتنا وعلمنا ماينفعنا



Imperatives


1. Forms and use.




In sentence like Come here, Be quite, Have a drink or Don’t worry about it, the verb forms come, be, have, and don’t worry are called “Imperatives”.

Affirmative imperative have the same form as the infinitive without “to”;

Negative imperatives are constructed with


Do not (don’t) + infinitive




Imperatives are used, for example, to tell or ask people what to do, to make suggestion, to give advice or instruction, to encourage and offer, and to express wishes for people’s welfare.



Look in the mirror before you drive off.

Please do not lean out of the window.

Tell him you’re not free this evening.

Try again-you nearly did it.

Have some more tea.

Enjoy your holiday.



An imperative followed by “and” or “or” can have similar meaning to an if-clause.



Walk down our street any day and you’ll see kids playing.

(=If you walk . . .)

Shut up or I’ll lose my temper. (=If you don’t shut up . . .)

Don’t do that again or you’ll be in trouble. (=If you do that again . . .)





2. Emphatic imperative



We can make an emphatic imperative with do + infinitive. This is common in polite request, complaints and apologies.



Do sit down.

Do forgive me.

Do be a bit more careful.

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3. Passive imperative



To tell people to arrange for things to be done to them, we often use get + past participle.



Get vaccinated as soon as you can.



4. Do(n’t) be



Although “do” is not normally used as an auxiliary with “be”, “do” is used before “be” in negative and emphatic imperative.



Don’t be silly

Do be quite!



5. Subject with imperative



The imperative does not usually have a subject, but we can use a noun or pronoun to make it clear who we are speaking to.



Ahmad come here

Somebody answer the phone

Relax, Sarah



“You” before imperative can suggest emphatic persuasion or anger.

You just sit down and relax for a bit.



Note the word order in negative imperatives with pronoun subjects.



Don’t you believe it. (NOT You don’t believe it(

Don’t anybody say a word. (NOT Anybody don’t say. . . )

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6. Question tags



After imperatives, the normal question tags are “will you?” “won’t you?” “would you” “can you?” “can’t you” and “could you” after negative imperative “will you” is used.



Give me a hand, will you?

Sit down, won’t you?

Get me something to drink, can you?

Be quite, can’t you?

Don’t tell anybody, will you?



7. word order



“Always” and “never” come before imperatives.



Always remember what I told you. (NOT Remember always . . .)

Never speak to me like that again. (NOT Speak never. . .)



8. Let



Some languages have a first person imperative form (used to suggest tha “I” or “we” should something). English doesn’t have this, but there is a structure with let + infinitive that has a similar meaning. “Let us” is contracted to “let’s” except in a very formal style.



Let me see. Do I need to go shopping today?

Let’s go home.

Let’s pray.



“Let” can also be used with third person nouns or pronouns.



‘Mr Nasser’s in the waiting room.’ ‘Let him come here’





Finally, I hope that you get benefits from this lesson.



Remember, any questions are welcome

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