The Italian imperative is a mood that has only one tense, the present, and two persons, singular and plural you. With the imperative, you usually don’t use the subject.
Apri la porta! Open the door!
Per favore, ascoltate il mio consiglio. Please (you all), listen to my advice.
Of course you are free to mention the subject, especially if you want to underline the fact that you’re addressing a certain person.
Tu, apri la porta! You, open the door!
Uses
The imperative can be used for:
1) Give order or commands
Apri la finestra! Open the window!
Sedetevi! Sit down!
2) Requests: You can use the imperative to make a request and, to sound more polite, you usually add “per favore”.
Passami il sale, per favore. Pass me the salt, please.
Aiutatemi, per favore. Help me, please.
3) Suggestions, invitation or exhortation
Mangia ancora una fetta di torta. Eat another slice of cake.
Aggiungete altra farina. Add more flour.
Dai, venite alla festa stasera! Come on, come to the party tonight!
Conjugation
The conjugation of the imperative is quite simple and straightforward. The endings are the same as for the indicative present tense, except in one case.
| 1° conjugation -aregiocare (to play) | 2° conjugation -erechiudere (to close) | 3° conjugation -iredormire (to sleep) | |
| tu (you) | gioca | chiudi | dormi |
| voi (you all) | giocate | chiudete | dormite |
Tu dormi troppo. (present tense) Dormi ora. (imperative)You sleep too much. Sleep now.
Voi dormite nella stessa stanza. È tardi, dormite. You all sleep in the same room. It’s late, (you all) sleep.
As you might have noticed, the only exception is the singular you for the verbs ending in -are.
Tu tiri la palla. (present tense) Tira la palla! (imperative)You throw the ball. Throw the ball!
Irregular Forms
There are some irregular forms and it is important to learn them because they involve verbs that are very common in everyday conversations.
1) Some verbs ending in -ere and -ire also do not use the same ending of the indicative present tense.
essere (to be) Tu sei coraggioso. (present) Sii coraggioso! (imperative) You are brave. Be brave!
avere (to have) Voi avete speranza. Abbiate speranza! You all have hope. Have hope!
dire (to tell) Tu dici la verità. Di’ la verità! You’re telling the truth. Tell the truth!
sapere (to know) Tu sai che non ti credo. Sappi che non ti credo! You know I don’t believe you. Just know that I don’t believe you!
2) The verbs “andare”, “fare”, “dare” and “stare” have two forms for the imperative form of the singular you. One is the regular form, therefore the same ending as the present tense. The second one is a short form with an apostrophe.
andare (to go) Vai in camera tua! Va’ in camera tua! Go to your room! Go to your room!
fare (to do) Fai i compiti! Fa’ i compiti! Do your homework! Do your homework!
dare (to give) Dai una mano! Da’ una mano! Give a hand! Give a hand!
stare (to stay) Stai qui! Sta’ qui! Stay here! Stay here!
Negative Imperative
The negative form of the imperative is formed by using the adverb “non” (not) followed by the verb. For the plural you, the verb is the same as for the imperative we’ve seen above. For the singular you, the infinitive form of the verb is used.
| tu (you) | non + infinitive |
| voi (you all) | non + imperative |
Apri la porta! Non aprire la porta! Open the door! Don’t open the door!
Aprite la porta! Non aprite la porta! Open the door! Don’t open the door!
Imperative and Pronouns
Where do you place a pronoun when using the imperative? Let’s see the three possible scenarios.
1) Affirmative imperative: In these cases, you simply attach the pronoun to the verb.
Mandale un messaggio subito. Send her a text immediately.(imperative “manda” + indirect object pronoun “le”)
I vostri genitori sono preoccupati, chiamateli. Your parents are worried, call them.(imperative “chiamate” + direct object pronoun “li”)
2) Negative imperative: The pronoun can be placed before the verb or be attached to it.
Non disturbarmi! Don’t disturb me!Non mi disturbare! Don’t disturb me!
Non guardatelo! Don’t look at him!Non lo guardate! Don’t look at him!
3) Formal you: In these cases, the pronoun can only be placed before the verb.
Dov’è il suo biglietto? Me lo dia, per favore. Where is your ticket? Give it to me, please.
