What’s the imperative in Italian?
The Imperative form in Italian is used to:
- Tell people to do something
- Give commands
- Offer exhortations
- Advise or invite someone to do something
In essence, the imperative is used to tell people what to do things. Consequently, it is only conjugated for
- the second person singular (informal “you” [tu] or formal “you” [Lei]),
- the second person plural (“you all” [voi])
- the first person plural (“we” [noi], used as “let’s”).
Examples of imperative forms
| Mangialo! | (you) eat it! |
| Non fumare! | (you) don’t smoke! |
| Non andarci! | (you) don’t go there! |
| Venite qui! | (you all) come here! |
| Provatelo! | (you all) try it! |
| Guardiamo! | Let’s watch it! |
Informal vs. Formal Imperative
In Italian, there’s a clear differentiation between formal and informal settings, which influences the use of the imperative, as its purpose is to tell someone to do something. We can issue these instructions either informally or formally.
That’s why, in Italian, there are different conjugations for the informal and formal imperative.
For simplicity, I’ll start with the informal imperative. It’s very common and used a lot in everyday Italian when people talk casually.
INFORMAL Imperative
The imperative can be conjugated only with “tu,” “voi,” and “noi.”
The imperative forms of “tu” and “voi” are the same as in the present tense, with the exception of -are verbs, to which an -a is added to the root of the verb. No changes are needed for verbs ending in -ere and -ire.
The imperative of “noi” is identical to the present tense and is used to encourage or urge action. It is equivalent to the English form “Let’s do something.”
| Mangi-ARE | Prend-ERE | Apr-IRE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TU | mangi-a! / eat! | prend-i! / take! | apr-i! / open! |
| VOI | mangi-ate! / eat! | prend-ete! / take! | apr-ite! / open! |
| NOI | mangi-amo! / let’s eat! | prend-iamo! / let’s take! | apr-iamo! / let’s open! |
Irregular forms
The informal imperative mood has only a few irregular verbs, with the most common ones being “essere” and “avere.”
| sii paziente! | Be patient! |
| siate pazienti! | Be patient (you all)! |
| abbia pazienza! | Have patience! |
| abbiate pazienza! | Have patience (you all)! |
Negative Imperative
To form a negative imperative (such as “don’t do it” or “don’t eat it”), you should place “non” before the verb in the “voi” form. For the “tu” form, use the infinitive of the verb preceded by “non.”
| Verb | Positive Imperative | Negative Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| Correre | Corri! | Non correre! |
| Fumare | Fuma! | Non fumare! |
| Bere | Bevi! | Non bere! |
but..for ‘voi’ version the verb doesn’t change.
| Verb | Positive Imperative | Negative Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| Correre | Correte! | Non correte! |
| Fumare | Fumate! | Non fumate! |
| Bere | Bevete! | Non bevete! |
Test Your Italian
Not sure what your Italian level is? I’ve created a free online Italian test to help you determine it.Imperative with pronouns
The imperative mood is often accompanied by pronouns. Typically, these pronouns are attached to the end of the verb, forming a single word with the verb.
| mangialo! | Eat it! |
| non toccarlo! – non lo toccare! | Don’t touch it! |
| non comprali – non li comprare! | Don’t buy them! |
*In the negative form, the pronouns can either precede the verb or merge with it at the end.
The informal imperative of fare, dare, stare, dire, andare.
Some very common verbs have an apostrophized form of the imperative of the second person singular, TU.
| fa‘ silenzio! | Be quiet! | Giving a command to an individual to be quiet |
| da‘ una mano a…! | Give a hand to…! | Encouraging someone to help |
| sta‘ seduto | Sit! | Giving a command to an individual to sit |
| di‘ la verità | Say the truth! | Encouraging someone to tell the truth |
| va‘ via | Go away! | Instructing someone to leave or go away |
When these verbs are coupled with a pronoun, the first letter of the attached pronoun is doubled, with the exception of “gli” and its compound forms.
Examples:
| Fammi vedere | Let me see! |
| Dimmi la verità! | Tell me the truth! |
| Dammi la borsa! | Give me the bag! |
| Digli il segreto! | Tell him the secret! |
FORMAL Imperative
To give an order, advice, or invitation to someone you don’t know very well, or to whom you need or want to show respect, we use the “polite you” or the formal imperative, “Lei.” The formal imperative employs the subjunctive conjugation. If you’re not familiar with the subjunctive yet, simply memorize the pattern for regular verbs in the table. For irregular verbs, refer to the information provided below.
Examples of formal imperatives:
| Mangi-ARE | Prend-ERE | Apr-IRE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| positive | mang-i! / eat! | prend-a! / take! | apr-a / open! |
Irregular forms
There are a number of irregular verbs in the formal imperative, here are some of the most common ones.
| Sia! | Be! |
| Abbia! | Have! |
| Vada! | Go! |
| Venga! | Come! |
| Dica! | Tell! |
| Dia! | Give! |
| Faccia! | Do / Let! |
Formal imperative and pronouns
When it comes to pronouns, the formal imperative requires the pronouns to be placed before the verb.
| Signore, lo prenda | Sir, take it |
| Signora, me lo dia | Madame, give it to me |
Negative Imperative
When it comes to the negative forms of the formal imperative, the word ‘non’ precedes both the verb and pronouns.”
| Verb | Positive Imperative | Negative Imperative |
|---|---|---|
| Parlare | Parli! | Non parli! |
| Scrivere | Scriva! | Non scriva! |
The imperative with loro
In some books, the imperative with ‘loro’ is also taught to formally address a group of people. However, this is an obsolete use of Italian, and I don’t personally teach it.
For example:
‘Venghino’ (for ‘loro’) – when addressing a group of people. This is actually obsolete.
Italian vs. English
Drawing parallels between English and Italian with the imperative can be challenging, as English tends to be a more indirect language overall compared to Italian. If you’re an English speaker, it’s important to know that using the imperative in Italian is perfectly acceptable and is not considered rude most of the time. However, intonation plays an important role; by varying the pitch of your voice, you can make the command more or less intense.
