IMPERATIVES – How to give commands in English

Straighten that spine! Stand up straight! Imperatives. Welcome. James, from EngVid.

If I seem crazy, I was giving orders, sir! Okay? An "imperative" is a command. I mean,

we have statements in English. We have questions. You know, we've done lessons on those. An

imperative is usually a command. I'm going to give you a quick primer, or quick lesson,

on imperatives. Nothing special. And then, I want to do something a little different.

I want to show you how to modify it. So let's look at imperatives.

What is an imperative? As I said, it's a command. You tell somebody to do something. You do

not ask. You just tell them and expect it to be done. "Shut up. Sit down. Get out."

That's it.

Next, how do we make an imperative? Well, when I said, "Shut up. Sit down. Get out",

you notice the verb is in the infinitive form minus "to". There is no "to". "I have to",

"got to" -- nothing. Just the verb -- or you could say "base form". Right? No particle "to".

Next, an imperative, when given, it's in the second person. I know not everybody understands

the second and third person, so I'll be quick, but hopefully easy. I'll make it easy for

you. First person is "I". I am the first person. You speak about yourself. The third person

is when you talk about groups and others. Right? "They" or "them" or "we". The second

person is a strange one. It's "you". Well, sometimes, you want to say to someone, like,

"You can do this. You can do that." That's the second person because I'm speaking to

someone directly, and that's you, you the audience. "You" can be either singular or

plural. When we talk about imperatives, we're talking about "you". "Sit down. You sit down."

We just don't say it. Right? So when somebody tells you to sit down, really, they're saying,

"You sit down." They just don't say it. It's understood. And a command is direct. You cannot

interpret -- which means trying to translate or figure it out -- you're just supposed to

do it. Right? "Drive slower." Don't try to translate. Just do it. Right?

Now, also, one other small thing. Usually, imperatives are not given with modals. There's

a small exception. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, we use "be able to". But when

we use "be able to", it's very specific.

Here we go. Okay? Your instructor or coach at the

gym might say to you, right, "You need to be able to do 100 pushups tomorrow." "Be able

to". It's an order. It's not asking you. It's not "can you do them?" It's, "Be able to read

this or recite this tomorrow." You must do it. It's an order. It's the only exception,

really, with modals. Otherwise, we don't. And this is rarely used. But I know there

are some of you out there who will go, "I heard" -- and I'm telling you. So got you.

All right? This is the rare exception. Otherwise, modals aren't used with imperatives.

That's a quick imperative lesson. So we use imperatives all the time. But if you use them

-- and I see students doing it regularly -- you offend people because they are strong. They

can be rude. I know in many of your cultures, you have a language for politeness. In English,

we don't necessarily, but we can modify the imperative to make it more polite. I'm going

to show you today a few ways to do that. All right? So let's go to the board.

Private E, stand down. All right? Let's start off with "please", "please and thank you".

You hear this all the time. "Please, please, please, thank you, thank you." You know this

is polite. Well, how do we use "please" with an imperative, right, to make it soft? Well,

one of the first things I want to tell you is when we use the imperative like "sit down",

"sit down" is an order. It's not nice. "Sit down!" Right? "Behave!" But if I say, "Please

sit down", I'm offering it to you. I'm still telling you what to do, but I'm being polite.

So when we really want to be polite but still followed -- right? You still want to do it

-- you put "please" at the beginning of the sentence. "Please sit down. Please introduce

yourself." If you drop the "please", listen to what I'm saying. "Please sit down." "Sit

down." "Please introduce yourself." "Introduce yourself." I'm still saying you must do this,

but what I'm actually doing is being polite by saying "please" first.

Now, you might go, "Well, that's too nice, but I want to be a little stronger than that."

And I'll say, "I've got you. I've got it here for you." Right? It's like a secret thing

here. Got it for you. Now, when we put "please" at the end of the statement, we're giving

the order and then softening. What? Well, we're being strong, and then we're being polite.

So you might say something like, "You need to sit down, please." What? I'm being very

strong. "You need to do this. Or sit down, please." Right? So it's not as polite. It's

stronger, but you're still nice. Right? "Have your tickets ready, please." All right? Strong.

I'm telling you what to do, but I'm being polite. Okay?

So you have a choice where you put the "please". Generally, when we really want to be polite,

we put the "please" first. "Please have something to eat." Right? "Please be a little quieter."

"Please be nice." When we want to be stronger, we say, "Stop doing that, please." "Not so

fast, please." I give you the order, then I soften it.

Those are your first two. You like that?

I've got a little more for you. Now, sometimes -- now, remember. Let's go back. When I talked

about this, an imperative, I said we speak in the second person, right? We were talking

about "you". But what happens if you want to include yourself in the imperative? Right?

You might want to. You're joining someone. Well, we're going to put this one here, "let's".

"Let's" really means "let us." And that's the key. It's the joining part. You and I.

So we can use this when we want to do something together and we want to make a suggestion.

Remember, the imperative is still there, but we're making more of a suggestion. "Let's

go to dinner." "Let's travel to Mexico." "Let's talk about it." Now, think about what I said.

"Let's" means not just you. I'm not talking about just you. I'm talking about us together.

"Let's go to dinner. I think we should go to dinner." So the suggestion is more like

a "should" statement, right? Remember I said you can't use modals? Well, in this way, we're

kind of using modals because it's a suggestion. "Hey. Let's go to dinner at seven. We should

go to dinner at seven." If you get rid of "let's", "Go to dinner at seven. It's an order,

Son." But you're my friend, so let's talk about it. "Let's talk about it." Once again.

Together. "We should talk. We should talk." Right? "Talk about it! Now!" Order. "Let's

talk about it together." So in doing this, I want us to work together, you, the second

person, and myself. All right? Together -- and it's more of a "should" and a suggestion.

So once again, we've softened it. We're not making it as hard. It's more polite. Okay?

Because I'm asking you to join me.

Now, what about this one? Sometimes -- when I say "let's", I don't mean me; I mean you.

Okay? So it's another way of being polite. What do you mean? Okay. You're in the library.

There are children talking -- some teenagers, you know, talking and playing video games.

You're studying very, very hard. You're going to get up from your desk, walk over, and say,

"Hey, guys. Let's be a little quieter, okay?" You're not talking about you. I'm directing

it at you, understand? It has nothing to do with me. But I'm a civil and polite guy, so

I'm saying "together" when I know I don't mean me; I mean you. Okay?

How about you have a friend who's always late. You might say, "Hey. Let's try to be on time

today, huh?" You know you're going to be there, but you know this guy is going to be late.

So you're telling him, "Be on time." But you say, "Hey! Let's be on time. Because I'm going

to be there. You need to be there." This isn't a suggestion, by the way. This is a soft order,

right? Well, actually, you know what? I don't like that. Let's put it like it is. It's a

direction. We're directing it. Right? It's directed at the other person. All right? So

when we say it this way, I'm really directing it at you, but I'm not -- it seems like I'm

including myself. I'm not. I'm trying to be polite, but I'm talking to you. All right?

So today, we've taken something that you've heard many times. Imperatives are orders and

commands. And I'm sure sometimes you just do what you're told in grammar. You use your

imperative. "Give me ticket." I hear that all the time. "Give me report. Tell me this."

And I say, [barks]. And you go, "What?" "Do I look like your dog? Do I look like your

bitch? No. No, I'm not. Be polite." And they go, "What do you mean?" I go, "You could say

'please'." And they scratch their head because they say, "I want you to do this." And I say,

"Yeah. I know you're using the imperative, and you've been taught that, but there are

ways of using the imperative that will get what you want, be more direct and actually

clearer in speech." And I gave them to you.

So we're going to do a quick recap of the imperative, and then a quick recap of the

lesson. And then, you will go to EngVid, and you will study. Right? Okay. So let's go.

Remember: Imperatives are commands. So sometimes, you want to be, like, "Sit down. Be quiet.

Stop doing that." You're not trying to be nice. So don't lose it. It's something that's

powerful when it's used correctly. Okay?

Next, an imperative is basically the base form of a verb or the infinitive without "to".

Don't add the "to", the particle. Okay?

Next, remember the imperative is given in the second person. It's always about the other

person. That's not true because today we just learned something new, right? But generally

put, it's "You sit down. You be quiet. You do this." Right? You say, "Do it now." You

mean, "You do it now." Right? And usually, we don't use it with modals with the exception

of "be able to", which isn't used often, but somebody might say, "Be able to tell me the

names of the five capitals of Toronto." Sorry. That's doesn't exist. But, "Be able to tell

me the five major cities of Europe tomorrow morning." That's an order. And they're using

a form of a modal. But it's the rare exception. Okay?

Now, what we learned today is to modify. So I'm going to give you a sentence and give

you a second to fill it in. So let's try it. If we wanted to be polite with somebody and

I said, "Try the food", right, what could I say instead? "Try the food" -- if I really

want to be polite? Yes. "Please try the food. Please try the food." Very polite. What happens

if I want to be a little stronger but still nice? I could say, "Try the food, please.

Sit down, please." Right? In the movie theater, someone's standing up. You go, "Hey. Sit down,

please." You're strong but polite. Okay? By the way, this is great for really getting

good at your English. It's not just learning this grammar lesson, but being able to use

the language like a native speaker because we do it unconsciously. And now, you'll know

what we really mean. Okay?

Now, when you want to actually make that same imperative and include yourself in the statement

because it's not just second; you want you and the other person, you use "let's". Remember

that's "let us" contracted. So, "Let's go to dinner at seven o'clock." All right? "I

want us to go together." It's more like a "should" and a suggestion.

And finally, when you really want to say something strongly yet in a polite fashion, okay, you

could say, "Guys, let's be quiet", when you know you're not actually part of what you're

talking about. And it's more than a suggestion, but you're a polite individual, and we know

this. Why? Because you come to EngVid where you get lessons from myself as well as Valen,

Adam, Alex, Rebecca, Ronnie, Jade -- the list just goes on, people. Okay? It's not an order;

it's not an imperative, but let's go together and, you know, take the quiz. See how you

do. All right? Hope you had a fun time, and I look forward to working with you again.

So go there now, please! See you.