ItalianVerbs, Imperative Mood The imperative is a moodNo definition set for moodLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. used to give orders and advice. Need an example? Think about your parents:
Don’t come back home late!
Or, think about your teacher, or best friend:
Rilassati! Andrà tutto bene!
Relax! Everything is going to be okay!
Got the idea? Great! Let’s now dive into the empire of the imperative and learn how to form it and use it!
What are the uses of the imperative in Italian?
First of all, let’s see in detail when the imperative is used in Italian:
to give commands or orders | |
to give advice or suggestions | Parla con i tuoi genitori! È la cosa giusta da fare. Talk to your parents! It’s the right thing to do. |
to give instructions (recipes or directions) | Aggiungete 100 grammi di burro.
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In recipes, Italians use either the imperative — in the voi(you, pl.) form, like in the example above — or the infinitiveNo definition set for infinitiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., and so you may also see:
Aggiungere 100 grammi di burro.
How does the imperative work?
The imperative works a little differently than other Italian verbs. Let’s go over its peculiar features:
The imperative has four forms, one for tu(informal, singular "you"), one for Lei(formal, singular "you"), one for noi(we), and one for voi(plural "you"). Compare:
There also is a loro(they) form of the imperative, used to formally give a command to a group of people, but it’s very formal and can be easily replaced by the voi form, which can therefore be used both in formal and informal contexts.
In the loro form, our request to shut the door above would be: Chiudano la porta!
Finally, mind your manners: with people you don’t know well, the imperative might sound a bit blunt, if not rude.
Adding per favore, per piacere, or per cortesia —all three expressions meaning “please”— always helps. But when in doubt, you can use the present conditional or the present indicative instead. At the restaurant, for instance, you could say:
🙂 Mi dia il menu, per favore.
But it would be even more polite to say:
present indicativepresent conditional
😇 Può/Potrebbe darmi il menu?
Can/Could you give me the menu?
present indicativepresent conditional
😇 Posso/Potrei avere il menu?
Can/Could I have the menu?
Now that we have discussed the basics, let’s see how to conjugate verbs in the imperative mood.
How to form the informal (‘tu,’ ‘noi,’ ‘voi’) imperative in Italian?
The informal imperative forms are the same as the present indicativeNo definition set for indicativeLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. forms of the verb, just without the subject pronoun (so, without tu, noi, and voi.)
EXCEPTION!The only exception is the tu form of -are verbs, which end in -a rather than the usual -i.
tu | | | |
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noi | | | Puliamo la nostra camera! |
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voi | | | |
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To form a negative informal imperative, place non before the verb. When using the noi and voi forms, the imperative verb itself is the same as in an affirmativeNo definition set for affirmativeLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. command:
Non disturbiamo i vicini!
Let’s not disturb the neighbors!
Bambini, non disturbate i vicini!
Kids, do not disturb the neighbors!
The verb in a negative tu command, however, changes its form. Instead of using the affirmative imperative form of the verb, use the infinitiveNo definition set for infinitiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the verb after non:
Giada, non disturbare i vicini!
Giada, do not disturb the neighbors!
How to form the formal (‘Lei’) imperative in Italian?
The formal — or polite — imperative is the one you use when addressing someone with Lei. To form it, you drop the infinitive ending and add -i to -are verbs and -a to -ere and -ire verbs.
Signore, firmi qui, per favore. | Signora, chiuda la porta. | Signor Mari, finisca di scrivere. |
⤷ TIP:Please note that -ire verbs that have an -isc stem-change in the present tense also have a stem-change in the imperative, as in the example above with finire.
To form the loro form of the imperative, drop the infinitive ending and add -ino to -are verbs or -ano to -ere and -ire verbs.
These are the Loro forms of the examples above:
Signori, firmino qui, per favore.
Signore, chiudano la porta.
Signori Mari e Vannini, finiscano di scrivere.
As mentioned before, it sounds pretty formal, so you can use voi instead and no one would be offended, promise!
To form a negative formal imperative, you just add non before the verb, which does not change.
How to use pronouns with the Italian imperative?
There are a few things to pay attention to when dealing with pronounsNo definition set for pronounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in the imperative:
With verbs in the informal imperative, Italian reflexive pronouns and object pronouns attach to the end of the verb.
Bambini, leggetelo per domani!
Kids, read it by tomorrow!
When a pronoun attaches to the irregular imperatives va’(go), da’(give), di’(say), fa’(do), or sta’(be), the first consonant of the pronoun doubles:
Dammi il libro, per favore.
Give me the book, please.
The only exception is with gli(him), which does not need a double consonant:
Rosa, dagli subito il libro.
Rosa, give him the book immediately.
In informal negative imperative sentences, the pronoun can precede or follow (being attached to) the verb.
✅ Simone, non ti lavare le mani!
Simone, do not wash your hands!
✅ Simone, non lavarti le mani!
Simone, do not wash your hands!
In the formal imperative, though, pronouns always precede the verb.
Signore, si lavi le mani, per favore!
Sir, wash your hands, please!
Signora, lo legga per domani, per piacere!
Madame, read it by tomorrow, please!
Signore, non si appoggi lì!
Summary
The imperative is used to give orders and advice and, just as in English, you don’t need subject pronouns to form it. Let’s sum up what we covered:
The imperative is mostly used in the tu, voi, and Lei form.
For tu and voi, the imperative is like the present tense, with the exception of the tu form of -are verbs, which ends in -a.
With Lei, you drop the infinitive ending and add -i to -are verbs and -a to -ere and -ire verbs.
The negative imperative looks like this: non + infinitive for tu; non + regular imperative verb for voi and Lei
We’ve now seen the theory; here’s some practice on the Italian imperative for you!
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