Commands
Telling someone to do something: Komm!, Hört zu!, Warten Sie! and Sei ruhig! (Higher).
Learn
Commands, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Give a command to a friend with the du form
Take the du form of the present, drop du and the -st: du kommst gives Komm!, du machst gives Mach!, du hörst zu gives Hör zu! An -e on the end is optional: Komme!
Keep the vowel change of e verbs, drop the one of a verbs
Verbs that change e to i or ie keep the change: Gib mir das Buch!, Lies den Text!, Nimm den Bus! Verbs that change a to ä lose it: Fahr langsam!, Schlaf gut!
Use the ihr form for several friends
The ihr command is the ihr form of the present without ihr: Kommt her!, Hört zu!, Macht eure Hausaufgaben!
Use the Sie form for adults
The polite command puts the infinitive first and Sie after it: Setzen Sie sich!, Warten Sie hier!, Nehmen Sie Platz!
Learn the commands of sein
Sei ruhig! (to a friend), Seid ruhig! (to several), Seien Sie ruhig! (polite).
Send a separable prefix to the end
In a command, as in the present, the prefix goes last: Steh auf!, Ruf mich an!, Machen Sie das Fenster zu!
Commands key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Imperative
- The verb form for giving an order or an instruction, such as Komm! to one friend.
- du command
- The command to one friend, made from the stem, as in Mach das! for do that.
- ihr command
- The command to several friends, the ihr form, as in Macht das! for do that.
- Sie command
- The polite command to adults, the infinitive and Sie, as in Machen Sie das! for do that.
- sei
- The du command of sein, meaning be, as in Sei nett! for be kind.
Common mistakes in Commands
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Keeping du in the command, as in Du komm!
The du command leaves out the pronoun, so it is just Komm with an exclamation mark.
Leaving out Sie in a polite command, as in Warten hier!
The polite command needs Sie straight after the verb, as in Warten Sie hier.
Writing Fähr langsam! or Gebe mir das!
A verbs drop the umlaut (Fahr!); e verbs keep the i (Gib!).
Keeping a separable verb in one piece, as in Aufsteh!
In a command, the prefix goes to the end, as in Steh auf for get up.
Practice
Try a Commands question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
You ask a stranger on a train to open the window. Which sentence is right?
- Öffne bitte das Fenster!
- Öffnet bitte das Fenster!
- Öffnen Sie bitte das Fenster!
- Sie öffnen bitte das Fenster.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: Öffnen Sie bitte das Fenster!
A stranger is Sie, so the polite command: Öffnen Sie bitte das Fenster!
- A stranger: Sie.
- Polite command: verb, then Sie.
- So Öffnen Sie bitte das Fenster!