Imperativo

The imperative, or imperativo, is a grammatical mood used to issue commands, requests, or exhortations. It is typically directed at the second person (you), but many languages provide formal forms, inclusive constructions, or special verbs for addressing groups. The imperative is a finite mood, distinct from the indicative and the subjunctive, and its forms vary widely across languages.

Across languages, the imperative is usually built from a verb stem with person-specific endings or through a dedicated set of forms. Negative imperatives are commonly formed with a preceding negator (such as no, não, non) or by using the subjunctive in some languages. In many languages, affirmative and negative imperatives differ not only in polarity but also in the required pronoun form (tú, usted, ustedes, vosotros, you singular/plural, etc.).

Spanish uses multiple imperative forms: tú (habla, come, escribe), vosotros (hablad, comed, escribid), usted/ustedes (hable/coma/escriba; hablen/coman/escriban); negative tú (no hables, no comas, no escribas); negative vosotros (no habléis, no comáis, no escribáis). Irregulars affect both tú and vosotros: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven (and corresponding negative forms like no digas, no hagas).

Portuguese presents tu informal forms (fala, come, abre) and você forms (fale, coma, abra); negative forms include não fales/não fale, não comas/não coma, não abras/ não abra, depending on formality. Vocês uses falem, comam, abram, with inclusive vamos falemos, comamos, abramos for “let’s.”

Italian imperatives include tu (parla, mangia, dormi), voi (parlate, mangiate, dormite), andLei for formal address (parli, beva, dorma). Negative forms are non parlare, non mangiare, non dormire (and non parli for Lei).

In English, the imperative uses the base verb form (Go, Listen) with an implied second-person subject; negation typically uses do-support (Do not touch). The inclusive imperative Let’s go is a common hortative construction.