Day 28 - imperitive forms, commands Flashcards
German has three different imperative forms depending on the subject: du, ihr, and Sie.
- The Sie form simply switches the position of the subject and verb, just like a question. Unlike English, you (Sie) is not dropped. Study the following examples:Please sign here. Unterschreiben Sie bitte hier.
Please take out a piece of paper. Nehmen Sie bitte ein Blatt Papier heraus. - To make ihr commands, drop -en and add -t to the verb stem, just like the present tense conjugation.Give me the money! Gebt mir das Geld! (GEBt)
Eat until you are full. Esst bis ihr satt seid. (ESSt) - To make du commands with weak verbs, drop -en and use the unconjugated stem.Stop that! Hör damit auf! (HÖR..)
Do it quickly! Mach schnell! (MACH..)
Strong verbs that have a vowel change keep the vowel change in du commands.
But verbs that add an umlaut in the present tense don’t add one in the imperative form.
Eat your dinner! Iss dein Abendessen! Drive faster! Fahr schneller!
Some verbs also add an -e for du commands. This is because the pronunciation of these verbs would sound strange without the vowel.
Work faster! ArbeitE schneller! Breathe in deeper! AtmE tiefer ein!
Two verbs have a special du command:
wissen (wisse) and werden (werde).
Sein is irregular: sein (imperative) (du) sei (ihr) seid (Sie) seien
Day 28 Grammar Cards
1. Commands (Sie) Switch subject and verb. 2. Commands (ihr) Drop -en add -t. 3. Commands (du) (weak) Drop -en. (strong) Drop -en, drop umlaut, keep vowel change. wissen (wisse) werden (werde) 4. Commands (sein) (du) sei (ihr) seid (Sie) seien
schon…already
der Weg…way, path, road
*In addition to physical roads and paths, der Weg can also be used as the way to do something, or the method.
gleich…same, identical
allein…alone
die Art, die Arten…sort, kind, type
*Don’t use die Art to ask What kind of. Use was für.
ein bisschen…a small amount
ruhig…quiet, calm
wenig…little, few, less
die Wahrheit, die Wahrheiten…truth
wichtig…important
