The Imperative (du, ihr, Sie)
How do you tell someone in German to come here, wait, or please sit down? You use the imperative — the command form. You'll hear it constantly: teachers use it in class (Lest den Text!), friends use it casually (Komm mit!), and signs and recipes use it everywhere.
The good news: German has just three imperative forms, one for each way of saying "you" — du (one friend), ihr (several friends), and Sie (formal). Once you know how each one is built, you can give polite requests and friendly commands right away. Adding bitte (please) keeps everything friendly.
The three forms at a glance
German has three imperative forms because it has three words for "you". The verb form changes, and the pronoun usually disappears — except with Sie, which stays.
| Form | Who you're talking to | Rule | kommen (to come) |
|---|---|---|---|
| du | one friend, family member, child | verb stem (no ending, no pronoun) | Komm! |
| ihr | several friends | normal ihr-form, no pronoun | Kommt! |
| Sie | formal (one or more people) | verb + Sie (verb comes first) | Kommen Sie! |
Notice that the Sie form looks like a question (Kommen Sie?) — only the word order and intonation make it a command: Kommen Sie!
The du-form: drop the -st
To build the du-imperative, take the present-tense du-form and remove the -st ending and the pronoun:
| Infinitive | du-form (present) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| machen | du machst | Mach! |
| gehen | du gehst | Geh! |
| lesen | du liest | Lies! |
| nehmen | du nimmst | Nimm! |
| fahren | du fährst | Fahr! (not |
| sein | du bist | Sei! (irregular) |
Two key details:
- Verbs with an e → i / e → ie stem change keep it: Lies!, Nimm!, Iss!, Sprich!
- Verbs with an a → ä stem change lose the umlaut: Fahr!, Schlaf!, Lauf!
With some verbs you may see an extra -e (Gehe!, Arbeite!). For verbs whose stem ends in -t or -d, the -e is required: Arbeite!, Warte!, Rede!
The ihr-form and the Sie-form
These two are easier than the du-form:
ihr: use the normal present-tense ihr-form and simply drop the pronoun.
| Infinitive | ihr-form (present) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| kommen | ihr kommt | Kommt! |
| warten | ihr wartet | Wartet! |
| lesen | ihr lest | Lest! |
| sein | ihr seid | Seid! |
Sie: use the infinitive + Sie, with the verb in first position.
| Infinitive | Imperative |
|---|---|
| kommen | Kommen Sie! |
| warten | Warten Sie! |
| sprechen | Sprechen Sie! |
| sein | Seien Sie! (irregular) |
The only irregular Sie-form at A1 is sein: Seien Sie bitte ruhig! (Please be quiet!)
Separable verbs and being polite
With separable verbs (aufstehen, zumachen, mitkommen), the prefix goes to the end of the sentence — just like in the present tense:
- Steh auf! — Get up!
- Macht die Tür zu! — Close the door!
- Kommen Sie bitte mit! — Please come along!
To soften a command, add bitte (please). It usually comes right after the verb (or after Sie):
- Komm bitte her!
- Wartet bitte einen Moment!
- Sprechen Sie bitte langsamer!
German imperatives often end with an exclamation mark, but with bitte they are perfectly polite — not rude like a bare command can sound in English.
📖 Examples
Komm her!
Come here! (du)
Mach bitte das Fenster zu!
Please close the window! (du)
Lies den Text laut!
Read the text out loud! (du)
Sei vorsichtig!
Be careful! (du)
Wartet auf mich!
Wait for me! (ihr)
Nehmt eure Bücher!
Take your books! (ihr)
Kommen Sie bitte herein!
Please come in! (Sie)
Sprechen Sie bitte langsamer!
Please speak more slowly! (Sie)
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Kommst her!Komm her!
The du-imperative drops the -st ending completely. Take the du-form (du kommst), remove 'du' and '-st', and you get 'Komm!'
Les das Buch!Lies das Buch!
Verbs with an e → ie or e → i stem change keep that change in the du-imperative: du liest → Lies!, du nimmst → Nimm!, du sprichst → Sprich!
Schläf nicht im Unterricht!Schlaf nicht im Unterricht!
Verbs with an a → ä stem change (du schläfst, du fährst) lose the umlaut in the imperative: Schlaf!, Fahr! Only e-stem changes are kept.
Sie kommen bitte morgen!Kommen Sie bitte morgen!
In the Sie-imperative, the verb must come first, followed by 'Sie'. 'Sie kommen...' is just a statement (You are coming), not a command.
✏️ Exercises
Test your understanding. Click an option or type your answer, then check.
What is the correct du-imperative of "gehen" (to go)?
___ das Buch! (lesen, talking to one friend)
How do you politely tell your teacher to come in? "___ bitte herein!"
You're talking to two friends. What is the correct imperative of "warten" (to wait)?
What is the du-imperative of "sein" (to be)?
How do you say "Close the door!" to one friend, using the separable verb "zumachen"?
___ bitte langsamer! (sprechen, du)
___ eure Hausaufgaben! (machen, ihr)
___ Sie bitte einen Moment! (warten, Sie)
___ bitte nicht so laut! (sein, ihr)