The imperative mood is a verb form used when telling (asking, ordering) someone to do something. It is always in the 2nd person.
To form the imperative mood, look at the 1st person singular (я) form of the verb.
| Stem ending in vowel- add й | Stem ending in consonant + ending stressed- add и | Stem ending in consonant + ending not stressed- add ь |
|---|---|---|
| читать → читаю → читай читайте | писать → пишу → пиши пишите | встать → встану → встань встаньте |
For reflexive verbs, just add -сь if the reflexive ends in a vowel (и or е) or -ся if it ends in a consonant (й or ь). So, reflexive imperative verbs always end in -ись, -итесь, -йся, -йтесь, -ься, or -ьтесь.
The imperative mood has two forms, basically corresponding to ты and вы. The first, shorter form is used when speaking to someone you'd refer to with ты- only one person, and someone you're more familiar with. The other form is used when speaking to a group of people, or someone you'd address more formally, just like вы.
In the imperative mood, the perfective aspect is used to stress the completion of an action, while the imperfective stresses the action itself. The perfective can also be used for an action completed once, while the imperfective is used for something done in perpetuity, or general advice.
| Напишите свои сочинения к пятнице.Write (pf) your essays by Friday. emphasis on completion of the essays |
Пиши мне письмо!Write (impf) me a letter! emphasis on the act of writing |
| Перестаньте говорить.Stop (pf) talking. this action is absolute- you're either talking or not |
Продолжайте говорить.Continue (impf) talking. this action can't really be completed; it's ongoing |
| Послушай, что я говорю.Listen to what I'm saying. this action is completed once, in a present situation | Слушай, когда кто-то говорит.Listen when someone is speaking. this action is completed anytime anyone is speaking |
In general, the imperfective is used in negative phrases (telling someone not to do something).
| Не курите здесь.Don't smoke here. | Пожалуйста, не кручи.Please don't shout. |
To form something similar to the imperative mood when speaking in the 1st or 3rd person, you can use
the particle пусть or the verb давать in the imperative to mean something similar to let.
Пусть is used with perfective verbs for the 3rd person.
| Пусть он не боится собака.Let him not be afraid of the dog. (He shouldn't be afraid of the dog; show him not to fear the dog) | Пусть Папа сидит со мной!Let Dad sit with me! (Dad should/shall sit with me) |
Давать is used for the 1st person, usually with imperfective verbs. Such sentences can also be formed simply using a perfective verb.
| Давайте начинать урок.Let's begin class. (speaking formally) | Давай смотреть кино.Let's watch a movie. (speaking informally) |
| Поедем завтра на пляж.Let's go to the beach tomorrow. | Съедим!Let's eat! |