Hi, friends welcome back to another lesson. When I was a child in school, I was pretty
notorious. I used to play a lot of pranks in class and unfortunately, one day my teacher
caught me. She looked at me and she said, get out of the class and I was like, who?
And she looked at me and said, get out of the class but she did not say you. She did
not tell me, you get out of the class. Well, that is because she used an imperative sentence.
So in today's lesson, let's look at using imperative sentences. What is an imperative
sentence? An imperative sentence is a sentence that could be a command. It could be an instruction.
It could be an order or a request. Okay depending on how you word it. So, there is no subject.
You will not have, you, in an imperative sentence because you directly tell the person whom
you are speaking to. So my teacher did not tell me, you get out of the class. All she
said was get out of the class.
Alright, now, if I have a sentence that says, give me the details. Now imagine, at work,
my manager wants some reports and he wants them from me. So he looks at me and says,
give me the details. So he's telling me and the hidden subject is you. So, generally he
won't say, you give it to me. You say, give it to me or give me the details. Now, this
is clearly a direct order. Okay now sometimes, you have people who are a little rude and
would say, mind your business. So when they say mind your business. It’s a direct order.
They do not say, you. So friends remember, in an imperative sentence, the subject hidden
is you. You do not use in the sentence.
So we use imperative sentences for giving direct orders. Now in my next example, pour
the milk into the pan. Now supposing, I'm baking a cake at home, okay. You have the
premix packet and I'm going through the instructions. So the first one is, pour the milk into the
pan. Okay, heat it on slow flame. So it does not read, you. Pour the milk in the pan, heat
it on a slow flame, add two spoons of sugar, right? So when you give instructions to someone,
you use an imperative sentence.
Okay, or supposing you go to the doctor. The doctor tells you, take two tablets, there
times a day. So the minute he says, take two tablets, he's giving you an instruction and
he's using an imperative sentence.
Okay, friends let's take a look at the next use. Have a piece of this cake. Now imagine
if I have a variety of pastries on my plate and I offer you. So when I offer you, I'll
tell you have this, piece. So, probably, it's a blueberry cake and I say, have this piece
of cake, it's really nice. Okay so when you offer someone or when you make an invitation,
you can use an imperative sentence. Now, for example, you have guests over and you go to
receive them at the door. You open the door and you say, come in and have a seat or come
in and sit down. So when you say, come in, you don't say, you come in, you say, come
in and sit down. So you make an invitation or you offer something. You use an imperative
sentence.
Okay, so I hope you're getting a hang of imperative sentences. Remember they could be request,
commands, orders and there is no subject.
Okay, no supposing I want to go and buy something and there is a notice or a sign that reads
insert a dollar. So if I want a chocolate from a machine, it reads insert a dollar.
That means I have to put a dollar and get my chocolate. So you have it signs and notices.
Take, for example, your doors. You have push and pull, your door reads push. It doesn't
say, you push. It says, push. that means it's a notice or a sign or sometimes, there are
you know roods under construction and they want to give the drivers a warning sign and
all they write is go slow, right/ you have a sign board that reads, go slow. So that
it is a notice or a sign board. So imperative sentences are also used when you wanna, you
know for signs and notices.
Alright friends, now sometimes we give friendly advice, right? Informal advice to friends
and supposing a friend of mine is really worried and she's just had a very bad fight with her
boyfriend. She’s upset and I wanna give her informal advice and I tell her, don't
worry, speak to him about it or talk to him, speak to him. Listen to what he's got to say.
So I don't tell her, hey, you go and speak to him, you listen to what he says. No, I'll
say speak to him about it and again I'm using an imperative sentence. So well yes, when
you want to give informal friendly advice, use imperative sentences.
Okay, now let's take the next example, do come. I'm inviting someone and I want to emphasize
that I'd be really happy to have them over for my brother's wedding. I say come, okay
come for the wedding, I’d be happy to have you. So if I say, do come, okay I'm emphasizing
that I really want them to come. So, say, for example, take the example of have a piece
of cake. I want to emphasize that you should have this one and I really want you to this
one. I'll say, do have this piece of cake. Okay, so when you want to emphasize, you can
add do and remember that's only do, no does, okay. So do come, do be quiet, do listen to
me, do complete the report. So when you want to emphasize, put do in the beginning of your
imperative sentence.
Okay now sometimes, you want to make a polite request or you want your imperative sentence
to be more polite. You don't want to sound. You don’t want to make a direct order. You
don't want to command. You don't want to instruct. So you wanna be polite. Remember when you
make an imperative sentence polite, all you need to do is, add, please. Okay, that’s
the magic word. Please, so if I say, fill the bucket, it could be an instruction. Okay,
it could be a command. It could be an order but the minute I add please, this turns it
into a polite request. Okay, so I could say, please come, okay, this becomes polite. I
could say, Please speak to him. I could say, please have a piece of this cake and if I
want to be polite and ask for something, I can say, please give me the details. So to
make an imperative polite, all you need to do is, add the magic word, please.
Okay, and we do have negatives also in imperative. All you need to do is, add don't. We do not
use doesn't because imperative sentences are always made from the first person to the second
person. So there is no doesn’t. Don’t disturb me. Okay you’re doing some work
and your kids are playing and you need to complete the report and you tell them, don’t
disturb me now. So again you don't say, you. All you do is make it negative by adding do
not disturb or don't disturb me. Don't make noise, don't trouble me. Don't worry, be happy.
Okay, so that's a negative imperative.
Okay, friends so these are the basic uses of the imperative in requests, commands, orders
to emphasize fro sign and notices, to make invitations or to offer something.
Well, this brings me to the end of this lesson, I hope you enjoyed watching. I’m sure now
it's easier to use imperative sentences in your daily conversation. I'll be back soon
with a new lesson, till then take care and bye.