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Wie komme ich am besten ... ? Formal and informal imperatives
I can understand and use informal and formal imperatives for giving instructions, directions and advice.
Lesson 5 of 13
New
New
- Year 11
- AQA
Wie komme ich am besten ... ? Formal and informal imperatives
I can understand and use informal and formal imperatives for giving instructions, directions and advice.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Imperative verbs are used to give instructions, directions, or advice.
- For the ‘du’ imperative of weak and strong verbs, remove the ‘-st’ and the 'du'. Omit umlauts added as a stem change.
- To use the 'ihr' form of the imperative of weak and strong verbs, just remove the pronoun 'ihr'.
- To use the formal 'Sie' form of the imperative, swap the position of the verb and subject pronoun 'Sie'.
- 'Sein' is irregular in the 'du' and 'Sie' forms of the imperative. Use 'sei', 'seid' and 'Seien Sie'.
Keywords
Imperative - a mood used to give instructions, directions or advice
Du - subject pronoun meaning ‘you’, informal and singular
Ihr - subject pronoun meaning ‘you’, informal and plural
Sie - subject pronoun meaning ‘you’, formal
Common misconception
Always leave out the subject pronoun when using the imperative.
The 'du' and 'ihr' forms of the imperative omit the subject pronoun, but the 'Sie' form retains it.
The formation of the imperative is Higher-only grammar. Students might enjoy giving their own directions using the imperative around the classroom or school, using e.g., 'Geh/Geht/Gehen Sie' and 'Nimm/Nehmt/ Nehmen Sie'.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these words means 'certain(ly)'?
Which of these words means 'certain(ly)'?
bitte
draußen
hinten
seltsam
Q2.Match the German and English.
Match the German and English.
Q3.Match the German and English.
Match the German and English.
Q4.Order the words to say: 'He wants to be in good shape.'
Order the words to say: 'He wants to be in good shape.'
Q5.Write in German: 'a fashionable market'.
Write in German: 'a fashionable market'.
Q6.Write in German: 'the historical church'.
Write in German: 'the historical church'.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.The imperative uses the subject pronoun in the ...
The imperative uses the subject pronoun in the ...
'du' form only.
'ihr' form only.
'du' and 'ihr' forms.
'ihr' and 'Sie' forms.
Q2.Which of the below are 'du' imperative verb forms?
Which of the below are 'du' imperative verb forms?
fähr
machst
gibst
Q3.Match each imperative to the correct person.
Match each imperative to the correct person.
Q4.You are talking to a group of friends. In German, give the instruction: 'speak'.
You are talking to a group of friends. In German, give the instruction: 'speak'.
Q5.You are talking to your teacher. In German, give the instruction: 'go'.
You are talking to your teacher. In German, give the instruction: 'go'.
