IMPERATIVO!(per

comandare...)Giving commands in Italian...Giving commands in Italian...

How fun!How fun!

Why Commands?Italians love to order people around - Can you think of anyone that does that every day, Monday through Friday?Commands are also used to give advice or as an invitation to do something specific

How do we change verbs

to make them work as commands?

Let’s start by saying that you can’t give commands to yourself (well...you could, but we’ll avoid it!)Also, you can’t give commands to people that are outside of the picture - lui/lei/loro

So who can we order around?

We can give commands to a person - or people - we speak to directly

That could be TU - if it’s friendly and informal

Or it could be LEI - if it’s a formal approach

Or it could be NOI - if you’re giving a command to a group that you are part of

Or it could even be VOI - if there is more than one person in question (not YOU - but YOU GUYS)

Of course, it will be the endings

to make verbs take a command form

And, of course, each verb family (-ARE -ERE -IRE) has a different set of endings. Ready to explore them? Here they are!

-ARE VERBSFor TU form: -A Ex: GUARDA!For LEI form: -I Ex: GUARDI! (Notice how they endings swithed?)For NOI form: -IAMO Ex: GUARDIAMO! (Same old...)For VOI form: -ATE Ex: GUARDATE! (Same old...)

-ERE VERBSFor TU form: -I Ex: SCRIVI!For LEI form: -A Ex: SCRIVA!For NOI form: -IAMO Ex: SCRIVIAMO!For VOI form: -ETE Ex: SCRIVETE!

-IRE VERBSFor TU form: -I Ex: APRI!For LEI form: -A Ex: APRA!For NOI form: -IAMO Ex: APRIAMO!For VOI form: -ITE Ex: APRITE!

-IRE “ISC” VERBSTU and LEI: Drop the -O off

the IO form - Ex: PULISCO/PULISC - then add

For TU form: -I Ex: PULISCI!

For LEI form: -A Ex: PULISCA!

NOI and VOI remain “normal”!

For NOI form: -IAMO Ex: PULIAMO!

For VOI form: -ITE Ex: PULITE!

How about telling someone NOT to do something?

For TU form: Keep the verb in -ARE -ERE and -IRE form and place NON in front of it. Ex: Non mangiare! Non scrivere! Non dormire!For LEI/NOI/VOI forms: Simply add NON in front of their command forms. Ex: (LEI) Non mangi! (NOI) Non scriviamo! (VOI) Non dormite!

With reflexive verbs (Mirror Verbs - actions reflected

onto the subject)

For TU - NOI - VOI forms: Attach the reflexive mini-word or object at the end of the verb. Ex. #1: Lavare/tu - Lava! But: Lavarsi/tu - Lavati! For LEI form: Keep the reflexive mini-word or object detached and place it before the verb. Ex: Lavare/Lei - Lavi! But: Lavarsi/Lei - Si lavi!

Reflexive Mini-Words Reminder

• Io - Mi• Tu - Ti• Lui/Lei - Si• Noi - Ci• Voi - Vi• Loro - Si

What about the irregular verbs?

Lucky you, there’s only seven!

ESSEREAVEREANDAREDAREDIREFARESTARE

ESSERE

TU: SiiLei: SiaNoi: SiamoVoi: Siate

AVERE

Tu: AbbiLei: AbbiaNoi: AbbiamoVoi: Abbiate

ANDARE

Tu: Vai/Va’Lei: VadaNoi: AndiamoVoi: Andate

DARE

Tu: Dai/Da’Lei: DiaNoi: DiamoVoi: Date

DIRE

Tu: Di’Lei: DicaNoi: DiciamoVoi: Dite

FARE

Tu: Fai/Fa’Lei: FacciaNoi: FacciamoVoi: Fate

STARE

Tu: Stai/Sta’Lei: StiaNoi: StiamoVoi: State