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The imperative (der Imperativ) is used to give commands, instructions, and requests. That covers more ground than you might expect: a doctor telling a patient to rest, a friend asking you to wait, a sign telling you not to enter, a parent telling a child to eat — all imperative.

In English, one form covers all situations: "Come in." "Eat." "Wait." German makes a distinction based on your relationship with the person you are addressing. The same instruction takes a different form depending on whether you are speaking to a friend, a group of people, or someone you address formally.

The good news is that two of the three forms are straightforward to build. The third — the informal singular du form — requires a little more attention, but the rules are consistent.

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The Three Forms

Before building an imperative, you need to know who you are addressing. German uses the same three-way distinction here that it uses throughout the language — du, ihr, and Sie.

Informal singular du

One person you know well — a friend, a family member, a child, a close colleague.

Komm! (Come!)
Mach das! (Do that!)
Informal plural ihr

Two or more people you know well — a group of friends, children, family members.

Kommt! (Come!)
Macht das! (Do that!)
Formal (singular or plural) Sie

One or more adults you address politely — strangers, customers, authority figures, professional contacts.

Kommen Sie! (Please come.)
Machen Sie das! (Please do that.)
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The du Form — Informal Singular

This is the most involved of the three forms, because the ending changes. Start with the du conjugation of the verb in the present tense, then strip out the pronoun du and the -st ending. What remains is the imperative.

du form — formula
du conjugation → drop du + drop -st = Imperative!

For example: du machst → remove du and -st → Mach!  ·  du kommst → remove du and -st → Komm!

Two groups of verbs need slightly different handling:

e → i / ie changers — keep the new vowel

If the verb changes its stem vowel from e to i or ie in the du form, the imperative keeps that changed vowel. The -st is still dropped as normal.

  • geben: du gibst → Gib! (Give!)
  • sprechen: du sprichst → Sprich! (Speak!)
  • lesen: du liest → Lies! (Read!)
  • sehen: du siehst → Sieh! (Look!)
a → ä changers — drop the umlaut

If the verb gains an umlaut in the du form (a → ä), the imperative drops it again. The command reverts to the original stem vowel.

  • fahren: du fährst → Fahr! (Drive! / Go!)
  • schlafen: du schläfst → Schlaf! (Sleep!)
  • laufen: du läufst → Lauf! (Run!)
Stems ending in -t or -d: Just as in the present tense, verbs whose stems end in -t or -d (like arbeiten) add an -e to the imperative so the word is pronounceable. Arbeite! (Work!) rather than the impossible Arbeit!
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The ihr Form — Informal Plural

The ihr form is the simplest of the three. It is identical to the regular ihr conjugation in the present tense — just remove the pronoun ihr from the front.

ihr form — formula
ihr conjugation → drop ihr = Imperative!

Ihr macht → Macht!  ·  Ihr kommt → Kommt!  ·  Ihr trinkt → Trinkt!

Vowel-changing verbs behave normally here — the ihr form never takes the changed vowel, so there is nothing to adjust. Ihr fahrt → Fahrt!  ·  Ihr gebt → Gebt!

4

The Sie Form — Formal

The formal imperative is built from the infinitive. In practice it looks just like an inverted question — the verb comes first, then Sie follows. Both words are kept.

Sie form — formula
Infinitive + Sie + exclamation mark

Machen Sie!  ·  Kommen Sie!  ·  Trinken Sie!

Because the Sie form uses the infinitive (which is the same as the wir/sie/Sie conjugation for regular verbs), no adjustments are needed for vowel-changing verbs either. This form is the most reliable of the three.

Adding bitte: The formal imperative is already polite by nature, but adding bitte makes it warmer still. It can sit directly after the verb: Kommen Sie bitte! — or at the very start: Bitte kommen Sie!
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Comparison Table

All three forms side by side, with the verbs most likely to come up at A1 level.

Verb du — 1 person (informal) ihr — group (informal) Sie — formal Notes
trinken Trink! Trinkt! Trinken Sie! regular
kommen Komm! Kommt! Kommen Sie! regular
gehen Geh! Geht! Gehen Sie! regular
hören Hör! Hört! Hören Sie! regular
arbeiten Arbeite! Arbeitet! Arbeiten Sie! stem ends in -t → add -e to du form
lesen Lies! Lest! Lesen Sie! e → ie in du form; kept in imperative
sprechen Sprich! Sprecht! Sprechen Sie! e → i in du form; kept in imperative
fahren Fahr! Fahrt! Fahren Sie! a → ä in du conjugation; umlaut dropped in imperative
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Irregular Exceptions

Three verbs do not follow the standard imperative patterns. They appear very frequently in everyday German, so they are worth learning as fixed forms rather than trying to derive them from a rule.

sein to be
du Sei ruhig! Be quiet!
ihr Seid ruhig! Be quiet! (to a group)
Sie Seien Sie ruhig! Please be quiet.
haben to have
du Hab keine Angst! Don't be afraid! (Have no fear!)
ihr Habt keine Angst! Don't be afraid! (to a group)
Sie Haben Sie keine Angst! Please don't be afraid.
werden to become
du Werde schnell gesund! Get well soon!
ihr Werdet schnell gesund! Get well soon! (to a group)
Sie Werden Sie schnell gesund! Get well soon. (formal)
Note on werden: The werden imperative appears almost exclusively in set expressions like Werde gesund! At A1 you mainly need to recognise it rather than actively produce it. Sein and haben are the ones to focus on.
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Separable Verbs

Separable verbs behave in the imperative exactly as they do in normal sentences: the base verb is conjugated (or placed as an infinitive for the Sie form) and the prefix goes to the end. The split happens in every imperative form.

du form

Steh um 8 Uhr auf!

Get up at 8 o'clock!

ihr form

Steht um 8 Uhr auf!

Get up at 8 o'clock!

Sie form

Stehen Sie um 8 Uhr auf!

Please get up at 8 o'clock.

Verb du form ihr form Sie form
aufstehen Steh … auf! Steht … auf! Stehen Sie … auf!
anrufen Ruf … an! Ruft … an! Rufen Sie … an!
aufmachen Mach … auf! Macht … auf! Machen Sie … auf!
mitkommen Komm … mit! Kommt … mit! Kommen Sie … mit!
8

Softening Commands with bitte

A bare imperative in German can sound quite direct, even when no rudeness is intended. Adding bitte (please) shifts the tone considerably. The word mal — roughly "just" or "for a moment" — softens the sense of urgency further. Both can be used together.

Direct

Komm her!

Come here!

Softened

Komm bitte mal her!

Could you just come here, please?

Bitte is flexible in position — it can open the sentence, follow the verb, or sit at the end. Mal usually follows the verb or comes just before the main content.

Without softener With bitte / mal English sense
Wart! Wart mal bitte! Just wait a moment, please.
Hör zu! Hör bitte zu! Please listen.
Geh! Geh bitte! Please go / Would you go, please.
Kommen Sie! Bitte kommen Sie! Please come in.

Quick Practice

Build the correct imperative form for each prompt, then press Check Answers.

Give the correct command

Each question specifies the verb and which form to use. Watch for vowel changers and separable verbs.

  1. 1 ! — kommen, du form
    Regular verb. du kommst → drop du and -st.
  2. 2 ! — trinken, ihr form
    ihr form = regular ihr conjugation without the pronoun ihr.
  3. 3 ! — lesen, Sie form
    Sie form = infinitive + Sie. Type both words.
  4. 4 ! — lesen, du form (vowel changer)
    lesen is an e → ie changer. du liest → keep ie, drop -st.
  5. 5 mich bitte an! — anrufen, du form
    Separable verb. Conjugate the base verb rufen for du, put the prefix an at the end (already shown).

Study Tips

What actually helps the imperative stick.

  • 1 Learn the du form carefully; the other two come quickly. The ihr form is just the present tense conjugation without ihr. The Sie form is the infinitive plus Sie. Spend most of your drilling time on the du form, especially the vowel-change rules.
  • 2 Learn sein, haben, and werden as fixed phrases. Rather than trying to derive Sei ruhig! from grammar, learn the whole phrase. You will encounter these in fixed expressions far more often than as free-standing commands to construct from scratch.
  • 3 Default to bitte in real situations. Until commands feel natural in German, adding bitte removes any risk of sounding unintentionally abrupt. It works in every register and with every form of the imperative.