I. Theory
Like in English, the imperative mood is used to make commands or suggestions. Commands can be either softened or stressed with the use of accompanying words like bitte- which is placed either before the command phrase or directly after the pronoun (when applicable).| Nehmen Sie bitte Platz. Please take your seats. Pass auf! Pay attention! Fangen wir an! Let us begin. |
II. Imperative Formation
A. Du
When addressing someone in the second person informal, the imperative is formed with the verb stem, without the -st du ending. For most verbs, it is optional to add an -e as well. However, for verbs that require an -e when conjugating them with du (arbeiten-arbeitest, antworten-antwortest), the -e is mandatory.| Sei still! Be quiet! Tue* das nicht! Don’t do that! *here, the -e is optional. Beantworte* die Frage! Answer the question! *here, the -e is required. |
With the exception of e-ie and e-i stem-changing verbs (sehen, helfen, etc.), the vowel change is not present in the imperative form: