Watch this! 10 Ways to Use Imperatives

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Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking.

And welcome to today's lesson on the imperative mood in English.

So today, we will learn 10 ways to use imperatives.

Before that, what is an imperative?

Well, when you use an imperative, you are trying to direct someone to do something.

So, you are telling someone what to do, or you are suggesting that they do something.

And today, we will look at 10 scenarios, 10 different situations, 10 different uses for

this mood.

An imperative, by the way, is always used with a base verb.

So, some people call this an infinitive verb,

a bare infinitive verb, a base verb, the core

verb.

So, for example, with the verb "play," you know,

you have "play," "plays," "played," "playing."

No, no, we just want the word "play."

So, at the beginning of the video, I said, "Turn up the volume.

Listen."

So, these are base verbs.

I'm going to call them base verbs for this video if I refer to them again.

So, the first way that we can use an imperative is to give instructions.

You have probably read cooking instructions, for example.

So, "Turn on your oven to 425 degrees.

Put in the pan.

Fry the oil."

So, when you have instructions such as, "Open your books to page 24."

You can add a "please" if you want to be more polite.

So, you will read this when you buy furniture at Ikea, for example.

Actually, Ikea normally just has pictures,

but there are instructions for what you need

to do.

So, you can give instructions as a manager, right?

So, "Everyone, please turn to page 24 of the booklet."

"Okay.

Everyone, please split into groups of two."

So, you can give instructions with imperatives.

You can also give commands or orders.

These are, you know, words that are a bit more direct, a little stronger.

Usually, or often, they use the exclamation point.

So, here we have an exclamation mark on all three of them.

"Go to your room."

This is a command.

"Don't move."

Another command.

"Jump."

Another command or order.

So, yeah, when you just want to tell someone to, "Hey, do this."

Okay?

Like, in the moment.

Often, there is an element of emotion in these types of imperatives.

Maybe there is some kind of danger in front

of you, or maybe you are really upset, or...

It can be a positive emotion as well.

Okay?

"Go to your room."

"Don't move."

"Jump."

"Celebrate."

I guess that could be a command.

"Celebrate.

Have a good time."

We'll get to "have a good time" in a moment, actually.

Next, encouragement.

So, you can encourage someone with imperatives.

You've heard these sentences before, right?

So, "Hey, do your best."

Or, "Don't give up."

"Keep trying."

"Keep going."

"Hang in there."

Okay?

So, do your best.

Don't give up.

Keep trying.

Hang in there.

You can encourage people.

You're telling them, "Hey, do this."

Or, "Don't do this."

Because it's positive for you.

You want to encourage them.

So, you want to give them some positive encouragement.

And speaking of positive things, we have positive wishes.

So, you can wish someone certain things, like, "Have a good trip."

Right?

Or, "Drive safe."

So, if someone is going on a journey, "Have a good trip."

"Drive safe."

I might say, "Have a good day."

Right?

Or, "Have a nice day."

"Have a good night."

A lot of these have "have" or "drive", actually, as well.

The opposite of positive is negative.

Now, you can be a bit of a jerk, and you can give some negative wishes to someone.

You can say, like, "Go jump in a lake."

So, "Go jump in a lake."

You really don't like the person, and you want them to jump in a lake where there's

lots of water and drown.

That's a terrible wish.

Please don't wish that on anyone.

This is a little rude, as well.

Like, tell someone who cares.

Okay?

Like, if someone gives you news or tries to

tell you something, and you don't care about

what they're saying...

Maybe you have had a fight with this person

recently, and you just want them out of your

face, and you wish they would go away, so you can say...

Okay, just...

Yeah.

Tell someone who cares.

Okay?

This is your negative wish for the person.

Okay.

Next, directions.

Similar to instructions, but directions, you're telling people how to get somewhere,

or where a location is.

So, for example, "Oh, turn left at the next intersection."

"Stop here."

"Turn right."

"Go straight."

"Go back."

So, you can give directions with imperatives, as well.

Next, advice.

Or suggestions.

So, what advice do we have here?

"Don't listen to her."

Right?

This is...

This is my advice to you.

If I say, "Don't listen to her.

She is a bad influence on you."

I think you can have better friends than her, so don't listen to her.

Next, we have...

"Quit while you still can."

Okay?

So, quit while you still can.

Like, stop now, or things could get worse in the future.

So, just, "Hey, I think this is what you should do.

I think this is the best course of action for you in your current situation."

So, you can give advice with imperatives.

You can make requests.

A request with an imperative?

What?

Yes, of course.

So, pass the salt, please.

Now, you might think that's a command.

No, it's not really a command, because the person doesn't have to pass the salt.

They don't have to listen to you.

You are asking for the salt.

So, this is a request.

"Pass the salt, please."

"Give us a minute."

Right?

So, you are asking someone who entered the room,

"Oh, we need one more minute.

Give us a minute, please."

You are asking the person to give you a minute,

even though you are telling them what to do.

Your tone and the words, like, "Oh, give us a minute, please."

To make it more polite, make it a request.

Okay?

Requests.

Offers.

Yes, you can make offers and invitations with imperatives as well.

So, here.

"Please, take one."

So, I'm offering you something.

Maybe an information booklet, or a pamphlet, or a piece of paper.

Another request?

Offer?

Sorry.

Or invitation.

"Oh, please come in.

Come in."

Right?

So, I am inviting you into my house.

I am telling you to come in.

I am making you the offer of, "Hey, my house is your house.

My home is your home."

I tried combining the words "house" and "home",

and I was going to say "hose".

It's a very strange word.

It's not a word, but maybe it is now.

Okay.

Finally, we have "warnings".

So, "warnings" could be similar to "advice",

but usually it's a little bit different, like,

"Be careful."

Okay?

"Hey, be careful."

Or, "Watch where you are walking."

For example, "It's dangerous here."

Or, "The road is uneven."

So, "Be careful."

"Pay attention."

Right?

"Pay attention."

"This could be dangerous."

Okay?

"Watch out."

Now, again, this could be a command.

So, commands can be warnings in some cases, but they don't always have to be a warning.

For example, like, "Go to your room" is not a warning.

Right?

It's just a command.

You're ordering your child to go to their room.

Okay.

I bet you didn't know you could use imperatives in so many different ways,

but now you do, and that's a good thing.

So, what I want you to do is go to engvid.com.

That's E-N-G-V-I-D dot com.

Or, just click the link that is attached to

this video, and that link will transport you

to engvid.com.

So, I'm giving you instructions.

Go to engvid.com.

Directions as well.

A command, perhaps.

"Go to engvid.com."

And check out the quiz that is attached to this video.

There, you can test your understanding, have

a little fun, and I'm sure you'll feel much

more confident with your use of imperatives.

I hope you enjoyed this video.

Until next time, thanks for clicking, and I'll see you soon.

Go to engvid.com.