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The imperative (l'imperativo) is used to give orders, advice, and exhortation: be good, stay home, let's go.
To create perfect, oven-fresh imperatives, stick to the following rules:
the tu and voi forms are identical to their corresponding present indicative forms, except for the tu form of -are verbs, which add -a to the root: domandare > domanda
the noi form (translated by "let's..." in English) is identical to the common or garden-variety present indicative (andiamo, vediamo, etc.)
Regular verbs therefore have the following imperative forms:
| cantare | vendere | aprire | finire |
| (tu) | canta | vendi | apri | finisci |
| (noi) | cantiamo | vendiamo | apriamo | finiamo |
| (voi) | cantate | vendete | aprite | finite |
Irregular verbs follow the same pattern, except for essere and avere, which have rule-bending tu and voi forms:
| essere | avere |
| (tu) | sii | abbi |
| (Lei) | sia | abbia |
| (noi) | siamo | abbiamo |
| (voi) | siate | abbiate |
| (Loro) | siano | abbiano |
Note too that dire has an irregular, truncated tu form: di'. The same goes for andare, dare, fare, and stare, but with these four, a regular tu form is also possible: va'/vai, da'/dai, fa'/fai, sta'/stai.
the negative imperative for tu in all conjugations is formed by placing non before the infinitive. The noi and voi forms are identical to those in the affirmative.
| lavorare | scrivere |
| (tu) | Non lavorare! | Non scrivere! |
| (noi) | Non lavoriamo! | Non scriviamo! |
| (voi) | Non lavorate! | Non scrivete! |
| dormire | finire |
| (tu) | Non dormire! | Non finire! |
| (noi) | Non dormiamo! | Non finiamo! |
| (voi) | Non dormite! | Non finite! |
Direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, and reflexive pronouns when used with the affirmative imperative, are attached to the end of the verb to form one word. The only exception is loro, which is always separate.
| alzarsi | mettersi | vestirsi |
| alzati | mettiti | vestiti |
| alziamoci | mettiamoci | vestiamoci |
| alzatevi | mettetevi | vestitevi |
when a pronoun is attached to the tu imperative short forms of andare, dare, dire, fare, and stare, the apostrophe disappears and the first consonant of the pronoun is doubled, except when that pronoun is gli.
Fammi un favore! Fammelo!
Do me a favor! Do it for me!
Dille la verità! Digliela!
Tell her the truth! Tell it to her!
when the verb is in the negative imperative, the pronouns may either precede or follow the verb.
Carlo vuole le paste?
Does Carlos want the pastries?
Non gli dare le paste! (Non dargli le paste)!
Don't give the pastries to him!
Non le dare a lui! (Non darle a lui)!
Don't give the pastries to him!
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