The imperative verb forms are used to give orders or advice, to urge strongly, and to exhort. It is a simple tense—in the sense that it isn t compound—and has only one form, the present. Furthermore, you can address your command only to an informal form of "you": tu or voi, depending on whether you are talking to one or more people. When conjugating a first-conjugation Italian verb, the familiar singular (tu) command is the same as the third-person singular (Lei) form of the present indicative, and the plural voi command is the same as the voi form of the present indicative (see the table below). FIRST-CONJUGATION VERB IMPERATIVES | INFINITIVE | TU | VOI | cantare | Canta! | Cantate! | mangiare | Mangia! | Mangiate! | parlare | Parla! | Parlate! |
The familiar commands for regular -ere and -ire verbs are the same as the tu and voi forms of the present indicative (see the table below). SECOND- AND THIRD-CONJUGATION VERB IMPERATIVES | INFINITIVE | TU | VOI | dormire | Dormi! | Dormite! | finire | Finisci! | Finite! | pulire | Pulisci! | Pulite! | salire | Sali! | Salite! | scrivere | Scrivi! | Scrivete! | vendere | Vendi! | Vendete! |
Although the imperative conjugation has a form you re already familiar with, there are some Italian verbs that have irregular forms for the familiar commands in the tu and voi forms (see the table below). SECOND- AND THIRD-CONJUGATION VERB IMPERATIVES | INFINITIVE | TU | VOI | andare (to walk) | Va ! | Andate! | avere (to have) | Abbi! | Abbiate! | dare (to give) | Da ! | Date! | dire (to say, to tell) | Di ! | Dite! | essere (to be) | Sii! | Siate! | fare (to make) | Fa ! | Fate! | sapere (to know) | Sappi! | Sappiate! | stare (to stay) | Sta ! | State! | |