German Imperative: Commands with du, ihr, and Sie
Learn how to give commands in German by forming the imperative for the du, ihr, and Sie forms, including the irregular verb sein.
The imperative is how you give commands, instructions, and requests. German has three forms because it has three words for you.
du-form (one person, informal): take the present-tense du form, drop the -st ending and drop du. So du kommst becomes Komm! and du trinkst becomes Trink!
ihr-form (several people, informal): it is exactly the present ihr form, just without ihr: ihr kommt becomes Kommt!
Sie-form (formal): keep the Sie form but swap the word order — verb first, then Sie: Kommen Sie!
| Verb | du | ihr | Sie |
|---|---|---|---|
| kommen | Komm! | Kommt! | Kommen Sie! |
| trinken | Trink! | Trinkt! | Trinken Sie! |
The verb sein (to be) is irregular: Sei! (du), Seid! (ihr), Seien Sie! (Sie).
Unlike English, German changes the verb depending on who you are talking to. English just says "Come!" to everyone.
Examples
Komm nach Hause!
Come home! (to one friend)
Trinkt Wasser, Kinder!
Drink water, children! (to several)
Kommen Sie bitte!
Please come! (formal / polite)
Sei ruhig!
Be quiet! (to one friend)
Seien Sie vorsichtig!
Be careful! (formal)
Common mistakes
The du-imperative drops the pronoun du. Say just the verb, not the pronoun.
The formal Sie-form of sein is Seien Sie, not Sei Sie. Sei! is only the informal du-form.
Don't keep the -st ending or the pronoun in a command. Drop -st for du (Komm!) or use Kommen Sie! for the formal command.
Related topics
Practice
___ bitte langsamer, Herr Müller!
Anna, ___ mir bitte das Buch!
Kinder, ___ leise und hört zu!