6.9 Grammar: Imperative Construction

” Giving Driving Direction”

Image of a car driving o highway in Iran
“File:2011 Summer Travel, North Iran (151623703).jpg” by Morteza Rafikhah is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

 


Imperative sentences are sentences that express requests, commands, order, instructions, etc. Like in English, the subject “you” is dropped. However, unlike English, Persian has two different forms of the pronoun ‘”you”,  as explained below.

English Persian Uses
You تو Second Person singular pronoun/
You شما Second person Plural pronoun / IS also used for who is older in age/ or higher socio- economic class/ it is used for anyone to whom you want to show respect.

The Imperative form only applies to second person ( singular and Plural). The imperative does not apply to the first or third person.

Formation:

Singular Imperative: add the prefix  ب- to the present stem of the verb with NO verb ending.

Plural Imperative: add the prefix   ب- to the present stem of the verb and we add the verb ending  ید   as well.

Example:

Infinitive form of the verb Present stem Imperative  form sentence
to Laugh خندیدن خند ب + خند = بخند تو تو بخند = you laugh
to Laugh خندیدن خند ب + خندید = بخندید شما شما بخندید = you laugh

Negative:

To form the negative imperative, replace  prefix    ب with the prefix .ن:

 

Positive Imperative Verb Negative Imperative Verb
بخند = Laugh نخند  =Don’t Laugh

 

Exception:

The imperative forms of the verbs TO BE  بودن   and  TO HAVE  داشتن  are made differently:

بودن = باش

داشتن= داشته باش

Imperative Verb- Negative Imperative Verb- Positive Pronoun
ساکت نباش Don’t be  Quiet ساکت باش Be quiet تو
صبر نداشته باش Don’t be Patient صبر داشته باش Be patient تو
ساکت نباشید Don’t be Quiet ساکت باشید be Quiet شما
صبر نداشته باشید Don’t be patient صبر داشته باشید Be Patient شما

 

Activity:

a) Please write ten sentences of instructions and ask your friend to enact them, and vice-versa.

b) Make a list of ten things that you want your parents to do for you. Please use the plural form of the imperative construction.

 Writing /Speaking Activity:

A: Look at the map and answer following question:

 

  1. How do you go from Police Office to the supermarket:
  2. How do you go from supermarket to the School:
  3. How do you go from night club to the Restaurant:

B: Now record yourself giving all the above directions.

 

 

!سپاس

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