In everyday conversations, one important aspect of communication is knowing how to give commands, instructions, and suggestions. This is done using what is known as the imperative in Italian.
If you’re new to the imperative, don’t worry, as we’re going to talk through what it is, when you use it, and how to form it.
The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of short, informal discussions, in which we cover interesting topics for Italian learners. In our latest episode, Francesca and Maurizio are here to help you understand everything you need to know about the affirmative (positive) imperative form in Italian.
We recommend listening to the podcast episode as you read this article. Plus, make sure to download your free worksheet at the end, so that you can practise what you learn.
What is the imperative in Italian?
The imperative is what is known grammatically as a “mood”. It is a specific form of verbs that is used to give commands, orders, suggestions, instructions or advice, i.e. to tell someone to do something, or indeed to tell someone not to do something.
The imperative is useful for many everyday situations and we’ll be seeing lots of examples of where you may see the imperative in everyday, spoken Italian. In a written context, you will often see the imperative being used in recipes, just like in English, where we would see phrases such as “chop the vegetables” or “add the flour”.
In this article, we are going to focus on the affirmative imperative – that is to say imperative constructions that are used to tell someone to do something, as opposed to telling someone not to do something.
How do you form the imperative in Italian?
The imperative forms of most verbs are relatively easy to learn, because they are very similar to the forms of the simple present tense, just with a few small changes.
One key feature of the imperative mood in Italian is that there is usually no subject pronoun included. This is just like in English, where we would say simply “chop”, rather than “you chop” in an instruction.
So, let’s go through each of the forms of the imperative in Italian for regular verbs. Since the imperative is used to address other people directly, the main forms we’re going to look at are the various “you” forms.
The ‘tu’ form of the imperative in Italian
To give a command or an instruction to one person informally, we will use the tu form of the imperative.
The verb endings for the imperative of regular verbs are the same as the simple present tense endings, with the exception of -are verbs.
-ARE verbs
For regular -are verbs in the tu form of the imperative, our verb ending is -a. For example:
Entra!
Come in! / Enter!
Asocolta!
Listen!
Note that this is a different ending to the simple present tense ending of -are verbs, which is -i:
(Tu) entri.
You come in. / You enter.
(Tu) ascolti.
You listen.
-ERE & -IRE verbs
For regular -ere & -ire verbs in the tu form of the imperative, our verb ending is -i. For example:
Rispondi!
Answer!
Corri!
Run!
Dormi!
Sleep!
Apri!
Open!
This is nice and straightforward, as it is the same ending as the one we are used to seeing in the present tense:
(Tu) rispondi.
You answer.
(Tu) dormi.
You sleep.
-ISC- verbs
For verbs that add -isc- in the present tense, their imperative tu form also features these letters. For example:
Finisci i compiti!
Finish your homework!
Pulisci!
Clean!
The ‘voi’ form of the imperative in Italian
To give a command or an instruction to multiple people, we will use the voi form of the imperative.
-ARE, -ERE & -IRE verbs
The good news is that the verb endings for this form for regular verbs are all the same as the simple present tense endings.
Let’s see some examples:
Entrate!
Come in! / Enter!
Ascoltate!
Listen!
Rispondete!
Answer!
Dormite!
Sleep!
The ‘Lei’ form of the imperative in Italian
To give a command or an instruction to one person who you are addressing formally, you will use the Lei form of the imperative in Italian.
The verb endings for this form for regular verbs are a little more complicated than the tu and voi imperative.
-ARE, -ERE & -IRE verbs
If you are familiar with the subjunctive (il congiuntivo), you will recognise that the Lei imperative form uses the present subjunctive endings.
Alternatively, you can think of the imperative endings as the same as the simple present tense endings, but swapped round – that is to say that the -are ending and the -ere/-ire ending are swapped round to form the Lei imperative form. For example:
Entri!
Come in! / Enter!
Ascolti!
Listen!
Risponda!
Answer!
Corra!
Run!
Apra!
Open!
-ISC- verbs
As before, verbs that add –isc- in the present tense maintain these additional letters in the imperative. For example:
Finisca!
Finish!
Pulisca!
Clean!
For a reminder of when to use Lei, the formal “you” form, as opposed to tu, the informal “you” form, we have another episode of The Coffee Break Italian Show to help you.
An imperative in Italian you probably already know
There is one very common imperative structure that you’ve probably used many times, even if you don’t realise that it’s an imperative! This is when you are saying “sorry” or “excuse me”:
Scusa!
Excuse me! (addressing someone as tu)
Scusi!
Excuse me! (addressing someone as Lei)
Since you are literally telling someone to excuse you in this phrase, it is therefore an imperative. And note that the -a ending corresponds to the tu, informal form, while the -i ending corresponds to the Lei, formal form.
The plural formal form of the imperative in Italian
Now, what if you want to address a group of people formally using a verb in the imperative?
While the formal plural form Loro exists, it’s rarely used in modern Italian. Instead, we tend to use the voi form both in informal and formal situations.
Very occasionally (for example, in a fancy hotel) you may come across the Loro imperative. For example:
Entrino pure, signori!
Please, do come in, gentlemen!
However, this would usually be expressed simply using the voi imperative form:
Entrate pure, signori!
Please, do come in, gentlemen!
Irregular verbs in the imperative in Italian
There are many irregular verbs in the imperative form in Italian, but for now, let’s focus on the most common ones.
essere (“to be”) – imperative forms
Sii buono!
Be good! (tu form)
Siate buoni!
Be good! (voi form)
Sia buono!
Be good! (Lei form)
avere (“to have”) – imperative forms
Abbi pazienza!
Be patient! / Have patience! (tu form)
Abbiate pazienza!
Be patient! (voi form)
Abbia pazienza!
Be patient! (Lei form)
Note that avere pazienza is one of the common avere expressions in Italian, which would be translated using the verb “to be” in English.
andare (“to go”) – imperative forms
For the tu form, there are two possible options:
Vai! / Va’!
Go! (tu form)
Andate!
Go! (voi form)
Vada!
Go! (Lei form)
fare (“to do”, “to make”) – imperative forms
Again, for the tu form, there are two possible options:
Fai / Fa’ una bella figura!
Make a good impression! (tu form)
Fate una bella figura!
Make a good impression! (voi form)
Faccia una bella figura!
Make a good impression! (Lei form)
Fare una bella figura is a lovely Italian idiom, which we discussed in another episode of The Coffee Break Italian Show, which was all about useful expressions with fare in Italian.
Other irregulars in the imperative in Italian
The verb stare (“to stay” or “to be”) also features two options for the tu form:
Stai / Sta’ calmo!
Stay calm! (tu form)
State calmi!
Stay calm! (voi form)
Stia calmo!
Stay calm! (Lei form)
Another verb that features two alternatives for the tu form of the imperative is dare (“to give”):
Dai / Da’ qua!
Give here! (tu form)
Date qua!
Give here! (voi form)
Dia qua!
Give here! (Lei form)
One last irregular verb in the imperative is dire (“to say” or “to tell”):
Di’ la verità!
Tell the truth! (tu form)
Dite la verità!
Tell the truth! (voi form)
Dica la verità!
Tell the truth! (Lei form)
The ‘noi’ form of the imperative in Italian
The noi form of the imperative in Italian is the equivalent to “let’s …” in English. To build the noi form of the imperative, we simply use the same form as the present indicative.
For example:
Entriamo!
Let’s go in! / Let’s enter!
Corriamo!
Let’s run!
Apriamo la porta!
Let’s open the door!
Practising the imperative in Italian
Let’s put the imperative form in Italian into practice with some scenarios. Try to think of the imperative phrase you would use in each of these scenarios, working out which form (tu, voi or Lei) to use, according to the context.
- Your friend is really hungry and you have made a lot of food. Your friend is hesitant, but you want them to help themself to the food.
- Signora Bianchi is hesitant to come into your office for a meeting.
- Your children are not paying attention, but you want them to listen.
That’s it for the affirmative imperative in Italian. We hope that you now feel more confident giving commands, instructions, suggestions or orders to a person or a group of people, either informally or formally. If you’d like to take this topic a stage further, learn how to form the negative imperative in another episode of The Coffee Break Italian Show.
To get the most out of this lesson, watch or listen to the podcast episode with Francesca and Maurizio on The Coffee Break Italian Show. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcast feed, so that you know when a new episode is available. In our next episode, we’ll be covering the negative imperative form in Italian, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, if you’d like more help with your Italian, you can sign up to receive free email lessons straight to your inbox. Look out for the sign-up box, and we hope that you enjoy your next mini lesson.
Happy Coffee Breaking!
PS. Here are the answers to the challenge:
- Mangia! / Mangia, mangia! (“Eat!”)
In the episode, Francesca and Maurizio explain that it is very common to repeat the verb in the imperative form in Italian. - Entri (pure)! / Venga (pure)! (“Please, come in!”)
- Ascoltate! (“Listen!”)
