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1 Types
and Forms Imperatives
The English imperatives are
the verb forms of the imperative mood. Imperatives are used to give
commands, orders, instructions, advice, warnings, appeals and wishes among
others. In most instances where imperatives are used, there is no need for
pronouns, verb agreement or tense.
Command: Quiet!
Order:
Close the door!
Instruction:
Warm up before you start running.
Advice/Reminder: Don’
t forget to buy your father’ s birthday present today.
Warning: Watch
out for wild animals
Appeal:
Don’ t go
Wishes:
Have a nice holiday!
Offer:
Have something to drink.
Suggestion:
Take the car for the service.
Request:
Open the door, please.
Direction: Drive
straight and turn left after the first traffic light.
Prohibition: No
smoking in the hospital
Invitation: Come
in.
Note:
When a speaker wishes to be more polite and tactful when speaking to
others, he or she should add a "please" to an imperative,
e.g. "Please open the door"
and when the speaker wants to sound more friendly, he or she should add a
"do,"
e.g. "Do come to the party" or a "kindly,"
e.g. "Kindly return the books to its original place."
Imperatives are expressed in many different ways and they can be divided
into three different groups
i. The second
person imperative
The most basic form of imperative for the second person has the same form
as the bare infinitive.
e.g. Speak up!
Go!
Move!
In the negative form of the imperative, ’ Do not’ (Don’ t) is placed
before the verb.
e.g. Do not speak up!
Don’ t go!
Don’ t move
Subject
with imperative
Most of the time, the imperative does not have a subject
as the person addressed is not mentioned but the person
addressed can be indicated by placing a noun or pronoun
at the end of the phrase or sometimes before the verb to
make it clear who the speaker is referring to.
e.g. Use your mind,
k’ ds!
Don’ t go there, Mike!
Phil , do not move another inch!
Carol, be quiet!
You
can’ t come, only Sam can come.
Calm down, everybody.
The pronoun ’ you’ is
seldom unless the speaker hopes to make a distinction as
the usage of ’ you’ is considered to be rude.The usage of
’ you’ before an imperative can suggest emphatic
persuasion or anger.
e.g. You
just stay where you are!
Don’ t come!
You
take your everything out of my house!
The auxiliary ’ do’ is
placed before the affirmative imperative to be persuasive
and to convey annoyance. The form ’ do’ + imperative is
also known as ’ emphatic imperative’ and it is common in
polite requests, complaints and apologies.
e.g. Do
come, I miss you.
Do
hurry.
ii.The
first person imperative
iii.The
third person imperative
Other forms of imperatives are used to include the first
person and the third person in the command as the most
common forms of imperatives are only given to the person
the speaker is speaking to (the second person).
The Usage of ’ Let’
Imperatives
Form
The first person imperative
Let us (let’ s) + bare infinitive
A speaker uses the form ’ let us’ (let’ s) to persuade
listeners to perform in a certain way, convey a
proposition or convey a decision which his listeners are
expected to accept.
e.g.
Let us paint the wall
together
Let
us volunteer for work tomorrow.
Let us (let’ s) + not (for the negative form) + infinitive
e.g. Let us not be taken by surprise when the visitors
come
Let
us not make any decisions without our parents opinion .
The third person imperative
Let her/him/it/them + bare infinitive
e.g. Let him do it by himself.
Let it stay in your mind.
Let them compain about the situation.
The form ’ let her/him/it/them is seldom used in modern
English as current users prefer to say:
e.g.
He is to do it by himself/He must do it by
himself.
They are to
suffer the consequences/They must suffer the consequences.
The negative form of
’ let her/him/it/them + bare infinitive’ (let her/him/it/them
+ negative infinitive) is not used in modern English.
Speakers use must not or is/are not as the negative form
of the imperative.
e.g.
He is not to
do it by himself. correct
He must not do it by
himself. correct
They are not to suffer
the facts about their life. correct
They must not suffer the
facts about their life. correct
Let her not do it by
herself. incorrect
Let it not stay in your
mind. incorrect
Let them not suffer the facts about their
life. incorrect
Imperatives can also be classified
according to other distinguishing
characteristics.
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Causative (the degree of difficulty in
accomplishing an objective)
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e.g. |
I’ ll have Mike mow the lawn. |
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I’ ll have the lawn mowed. |
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I’ ll get Mike to mow the lawn. |
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I’ ll get the lawn mowed. |
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I’ ll make Mike mow the lawn. |
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Diffuse imperatives (directed to anyone
present - not directed to anyone in
particular)
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e.g. |
Somebody close the door. |
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Don’ t anybody come any closer. |
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Mandative subjunctives (there is no verb
agreement in the following that clause)
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e.g. |
She demands (insists, wants) that
her friend be there by 8 a.m. |
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They suggest (propose, advise)
that Jason go out with Linda. |
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It’ s crucial (vital, essential)
that the celebration begin on
time. |
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Passive imperatives (the form ’ get’ +
past participle is often used to inform
or direct listeners to arrange for
something to be done)
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e.g. |
Get help as soon as possible. |
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Get your car to the nearest car
wash. |
The
English Imperative also has a hierarchy of
politeness forms based on the politeness
principle of not imposing on others and
allowing options to be made. Commands can
be made to sound more subtle by using
statements, questions, and modals. The
list of imperatives below is arranged from
the most direct to the most subtle.
Most direct
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imperative (elliptical):Drink.
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imperative: Give me a drink.
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declarative (no modal): I want a drink.
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declarative (present tense form of
modal): I’ ll have a drink.
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declarative (past tense form of modal):
I’ d like a drink.
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interrogative (no modal): Do you have
something to drink?
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interrogative (present tense form of
modal): Can I have a drink?
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interrogative (past tense form of modal):
Could I have a drink?
Most
subtle
Question Tags
Question tags can also be placed at the
end of imperatives. The common question
tags after imperatives are ’ will you?’ ,
’ won’ t you?’ , ’ would you?’ , ’ can you?’
and ’ could you?’ At the end of negative
imperatives, ’ will you?’ is used.
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e.g. |
Help him, will you? |
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Stand up, won’ t you? |
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Get me something to eat, could you? |
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Be quick, can’ t you? |
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Don’ t sack anybody, will you? |
Note: Word Order
Always and never come BEFORE imperatives.
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e.g. |
Always remember to the fire before
you leave the forest correct |
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Remember always to douse the fire
before you leave forest. incorrect
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Never raise your voice when you
speak to your mother and father.
correct |
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Raise never your voice when you
speak to your mother and father.
incorrect |
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