The Imperative — Giving Commands

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to tell someone to do something or not to do something.

What is the imperative?

The imperative is used for commands — for example: Go to the store! Open the window! Study Arabic! There are two forms: the positive imperative (tells someone to do something) and the negative imperative (tells someone not to do something).

Positive imperative

To form the positive imperative: begin with the present-tense “you” form, remove ka-, and remove the prefix t-.

Example verb: “to write”

Form	Present tense	Command
You write — masculine	kat-ktb	ktb (Write!)
You write — feminine	kat-ktbi	ktbi
You write — plural	kat-ktbu	ktbu

Negative imperative

To tell someone not to do something: remove ka-, keep the t- prefix, place ma- before the verb, and place -š after it. The structure is ma-t-verb-š.

Example: “to sit” (gls)

Form	Positive	Negative
To a man	gls	ma-t-gls-š
To a woman	glsi	ma-t-glsi-š
To several people	glsu	ma-t-glsu-š

Example: “to stand” / “to stop” (wqf)

Form	Positive	Negative
To a man	wqf	ma-t-wqf-š
To a woman	wqfi	ma-t-wqfi-š
To several people	wqfu	ma-t-wqfu-š