The imperative

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

The imperative: how to give a command

So far we have been stating things and asking about them. Now it is time to get people to do things: "Read!", "Wait!", "Don't worry!", "Let's start!". The verb form for an order, a request or a piece of advice is called the imperative. In Serbian it is built simply: nearly everything is derived from the present tense you already know, and the exceptions are a handful of very common verbs.

In English the imperative is the bare verb, the same word whoever you talk to: "Read!" to a child, to a class of thirty, to your boss. Serbian is more exact. It has one form for a single person you call ti, another for vi (several people, or one person addressed politely) and a third for "let's": čitaj!, čitajte!, čitajmo!. We will see how to build all three from the present, how to forbid and how to soften an order.

One thing to settle first: the imperative proper exists only for the 2nd person (ti, vi) and for “we” (the 1st person plural). An order “in the 3rd person” (“let him come”) uses a different tool, the word neka with the ordinary present: Neka dođe. “Let him come.” That is a separate topic, which comes back in the lesson “Softened & negative commands”.

Where the form comes from: the present stem

Everything starts from the present tense you practised in the lesson “Present tense”. On the map in “Infinitive & stems” you already saw that piši! and zovi! grow from the present stem, not from the infinitive. Take the oni form (3rd person plural), strip off the ending in your head, and what is left is the stem the command grows from. Then you choose between two tails, -j and -i, and the stem itself tells you which.

If the stem ends in a vowel (usually a verb in -ati with a present in -am/-aju, but also pi-ju from piti “to drink”, ču-ju from čuti “to hear”, kupu-ju from kupovati “to buy”), the ti command takes -j, the y of yes: čitaj sounds roughly like "CHEE-tie".

If the stem ends in a consonant, the ti command takes -i:

Look closely at piši and zovi. In the present, pisati gives pišu, with s turning into š (English sh), and zvati gives zovu; the imperative faithfully takes that present stem: piši, zovi, not “pisi”, “zvaj”. This is the general rule: the command is dictated by the present tense, not by the infinitive.

Ti, vi and "let's": the three persons of a command

Once you have the ti form, the other two come almost free. Add -te and you get the command for vi: the polite "you" to one person and "you" to several people. Add -mo and you get the "we" form, the English "let's":

Cheat sheet

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The imperative: how to give a command

Built on the present stem: the oni form (3rd person plural) minus its ending, plus a tail. ti: -j or -i; vi (you all / polite you): the same + -te; "let's": + -mo. Only three persons; “let him come” uses neka: Neka dođe.

The ti command

Stem in a vowel (-ati verbs with -am/-aju; pi-ju → pij!) takes -j; stem in a consonant takes -i. The present, not the infinitive, decides: pisati → pišu → piši, zvati → zovu → zovi.

Three persons

idemo = “let’s go” and “we’re going”. The j stays before -te: čitajte. Polite vi: Izvolite! Recite! Sačekajte, molim vas. Here you are! Go ahead! Please wait.

Five irregulars

From the present: dođem, idem, jedem; reci has k → c (so peci!; pomozi! has g → z); budi comes from budem, not jesam: Budi dobar! Budite ljubazni… Be good! Would you be so kind…

Forbidding

Aspect in commands

Napiši mi poruku. Write me a message. (once) Piši mi svaki dan. Write to me every day. (regularly)