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.

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.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Imperative verbs are used to give instructions, directions, or advice.
  2. For the ‘du’ imperative of weak and strong verbs, remove the ‘-st’ and the 'du'. Omit umlauts added as a stem change.
  3. To use the 'ihr' form of the imperative of weak and strong verbs, just remove the pronoun 'ihr'.
  4. To use the formal 'Sie' form of the imperative, swap the position of the verb and subject pronoun 'Sie'.
  5. '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.


To help you plan your year 11 German lesson on: Wie komme ich am besten ... ? Formal and informal imperatives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

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'.
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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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words means 'certain(ly)'?
bitte
draußen
Correct answer: gewiss
hinten
seltsam
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Angebot (nt),offer

offer

Correct Answer:Flugzeug (nt),aeroplane

aeroplane

Correct Answer:Gebäude (nt),building

building

Correct Answer:Stadion (nt),stadium

stadium

Correct Answer:Tüte (f),bag

bag

Correct Answer:Ware (f),goods

goods

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:anrufen,to call, calling

to call, calling

Correct Answer:legen,to lay, put

to lay, put

Correct Answer:setzen,to set, place

to set, place

Correct Answer:schauen,to look, looking

to look, looking

Correct Answer:zeigen,to show, showing

to show, showing

Correct Answer:zählen,to count, counting

to count, counting

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'He wants to be in good shape.'
1 - er
2 - will
3 - in
4 - Form
5 - sein
Q5.
Write in German: 'a fashionable market'.
Correct Answer: ein modischer Markt
Q6.
Write in German: 'the historical church'.
Correct Answer: die historische Kirche

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
The imperative uses the subject pronoun in the ...
'du' form only.
'ihr' form only.
Correct answer: 'Sie' form only.
'du' and 'ihr' forms.
'ihr' and 'Sie' forms.
Q2.
Which of the below are 'du' imperative verb forms?
fähr
Correct answer: fahr
Correct answer: mach
machst
gibst
Q3.
Match each imperative to the correct person.
Correct Answer:sei,your brother

your brother

Correct Answer:seid,your sisters

your sisters

Correct Answer:seien Sie,your neighbour

your neighbour

Q4.
You are talking to a group of friends. In German, give the instruction: 'speak'.
Correct Answer: sprecht, sprecht!
Q5.
You are talking to your teacher. In German, give the instruction: 'go'.
Correct Answer: gehen Sie

Additional material

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