Imperatives

Imperatives in English are used to do several things and seen in several places including:

• Give orders
  • Don’t do that!
  • Stop talking immediately!
• On signs
  • Stop
  • Push
  • Pull
  • Turn left.
• Make an invitation
  • Sit with us.
  • Come eat with us.
• Give instructions
  • Turn to page 20.
  • Take your medicine when you feel sick.
• Give warnings
  • Be careful.
  • Don’t sit down on the bench. It has wet paint.
• Give advice
  • Relax.
  • Think about it.
  • Work hard if you want to succeed.

Positive Conjugation

In English, the conjugation for the imperative is just the base verb (in simple present tense).^[1]https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/what-are-imperatives

For example, for the verb “to run”, we can say, “Run 20 laps right now!”

A few addition examples:

• Close the door.
• Clean your room.
• Take your medicine.
• Come in and sit down.

Negative Conjugation

In English, the negative conjugation for the imperative is:

Do not (don’t) + base verb

You can use the negative imperative to tell someone not to do something, such as when something is against the rules.

For example:

• Don’t drive above the speed limit.
• Stop at the red light.
• Don’t smoke in the building.
• Do not open the door.

Giving Instructions

As stated earlier, you can use the imperative to give instructions.

For example:

Set the oven to 200 F and cook the chicken for 30 minutes.

However, there are times when you might find yourself wanting to give instructions for something that requires multiple steps. In these cases, you can use sequential words such as

• First, Second, Third…
• Then
• Next
• After that
• Finally

For example, the instructions for cooking pasta might be as follows:

First, boil some water.

Then, place the pasta in the boiling water.

Next, let the water boil for 10 minutes.

After that, pour out the pasta and water into a colander.

Finally, mix marinara sauce with the pasta.