What an Imperative Is
An imperative tells somebody to do something — or not to do it. Every other English sentence needs a subject; this one is the exception: the person you are talking to is standing in front of you, so English leaves them out and opens with the base form of the verb.
POSITIVETelling someone to do it
The subject slot is left empty: the sentence starts with the verb.
Open the window, please.
Mở cửa sổ giúp mình với.
NEGATIVETelling someone not to
Don't touch the screen.
Đừng chạm vào màn hình.
The verb is always the dictionary form: no -s, no -ing, no to. That holds whether you are speaking to one person or a whole class, and an imperative has no tense. Vietnamese pulls the other way here, because it keeps the form of address inside the sentence — Em ngồi đi, Anh đợi chút nhé. In English those words vanish completely: Sit down · Wait a moment.
TRY IT
- Question 1
" down, please."
- Question 2
" forget your keys!"
The four forms
POSITIVE
V…
Turn left at the lights.
Base verb first. Nothing is added anywhere.
NEGATIVE
Don'tV…
Don't touch the screen.
Always don't — doesn't never appears in a command.
WITH BE
(Don't) beadjective
Be careful. — Don't be late.
Be has an imperative too, and it is simply be.
LET'S
Let'sV…
Let's take a break.
Includes the speaker: you and me, together.
The negative of let's is Let's not — Let's not talk about it now. And let on its own means allow rather than suggest: Let me help you is an offer.
Never open the door to strangers and Don't ever open the door to strangers are both correct and both natural. Put them together and the sentence breaks: Don't never open the door is two negatives doing one job. Pick never, or pick don't ever — not both.
TRY IT
- Question 1
" worry — everything is fine."
- Question 2
" late for the exam!"
- Question 3
"It's a beautiful day. for a walk."
Where imperatives actually live
Instructions
Turn left after the bridge.
Directions, recipes, manuals, exam papers.
Signal words: mix · press · add · choose · click
Warnings
Mind the step.
Short and bare on purpose — there is no time for politeness.
Signal words: Look out! · Don't touch · Keep left
Offers and invitations
Come in and have a seat.
Friendly, not bossy: the imperative is a welcome here.
Signal words: Help yourself · Have some more · Take a seat
Encouragement
Take your time — there's no hurry.
Advice given warmly, often with a reason attached.
Signal words: Try it · Don't worry · Have a good trip
Notice how few of these are orders. Most imperatives you meet in a day are a recipe telling you to add the salt, a sign telling you to keep left, or a friend telling you to help yourself.
A bare command vs. a polite question
Vietnamese softens a command with a particle at the end: đi, nhé, nào, với, ạ — Đóng cửa giúp em với, Ngồi xuống đi, Cho em một cà phê ạ. English has no equivalent particle. Translate straight and the softening falls off on the way, leaving the bare command — and to a stranger, a waiter or a colleague you do not know well, that can land as brusque even when your tone is friendly.
| BARE IMPERATIVE | WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD | |
|---|---|---|
| ordering in a café | Give me a coffee. | Could I have a coffee, please? |
| asking a colleague | Send me the file. | Can you send me the file, please? |
| asking a stranger | Tell me the time. | Excuse me, could you tell me the time? |
| warning someone | Don't touch that — it's hot! | already right — a warning needs no softening |
| welcoming a guest | Come in and sit down. | already right — this is hospitality, not an order |
The rule of thumb has two halves, and the second matters as much as the first. Asking somebody for something → make it a question (Can you…?, Could you…?, Would you…?), and add please, which can go at the beginning or the end. Telling somebody how to do something, warning them, or offering them something → the imperative is exactly right, and turning it into a question would sound oddly formal — and, in a warning, a beat too slow.
TRY IT
- Question 1
Ordering in a café: " "
- Question 2
Your friend is about to touch a hot pan: " "
Common mistakes
Incorrect:You sit down, please.
Correct:Sit down, please.
An imperative drops the subject; keeping you sounds like singling somebody out.
Incorrect:Not touch the screen.
Correct:Don't touch the screen.
A negative command needs don't; not on its own cannot start an English sentence.
Incorrect:Don't be worry about the exam.
Correct:Don't worry about the exam.
Worry is a verb and needs no be. Don't be goes with adjectives: Don't be sad, Don't be late.
Incorrect:Doesn't be late tomorrow.
Correct:Don't be late tomorrow.
The imperative has one negative form for everyone, and it is always don't.
Incorrect:Don't never open the door to strangers.
Correct:Never open the door to strangers.
Never is already negative — use never, or use Don't ever, but never both.
Incorrect:Let's to go home.
Correct:Let's go home.
The verb after let's is bare, exactly as it is after don't.
Quick check · 6 questions
Choose the correct sentence:
Don't open the window. It's cold.
- A. Don't — Correct
- B. Doesn't
- C. Not
Answer: A. Don't
An imperative has no subject, so there is nothing for the verb to agree with: it is Don't every time, never Doesn't. And "Not open" has no auxiliary at all.
Choose the correct sentence:
Don't be sad. You can try again.
- A. Don't be — Correct
- B. Don't
- C. Not be
Answer: A. Don't be
Sad is an adjective rather than a verb, so the sentence has to borrow be. With a real verb no be is needed: Don't worry, Don't forget.
You are offering a guest more food. Choose the correct sentence:
Have some more rice.
- A. Have — Correct
- B. You have
- C. To have
Answer: A. Have
An imperative starts straight in on the dictionary form of the verb. Putting you in front turns it into a statement about the listener.
Choose the correct way to suggest it:
It's hot. Let's go to the beach.
- A. Let's go — Correct
- B. Let's to go
- C. We go
Answer: A. Let's go
Let's includes the speaker as well as the listener, and the verb after it takes no to.
The floor is wet. Choose the correct sentence:
Be careful — the floor is wet.
- A. Be careful — Correct
- B. Careful
- C. You be careful
Answer: A. Be careful
The sentence still needs a verb, and in front of an adjective that verb is be. A warning is one place where softening it into a question would be a beat too slow.
You want to borrow a stranger's charger. Choose the best sentence:
Could I borrow your charger, please?
- A. Could I borrow your charger, please? — Correct
- B. Give me your charger, please.
- C. Lend me your charger.
Answer: A. Could I borrow your charger, please?
Asking somebody for something is where a bare imperative sounds blunt, and please does not fix it. Turning it into a question with could is the safe form with a stranger.
