The imperative (l’imperativo) is used to give orders, advice, and exhortation: be good, stay home, let’s go.
In Italian you can find formal or informal imperative: the formal one is used with acquaintances, people you don’t know well or with whom you have a professional relationship.
The form is very simple and changes depending on the kind of verb we want to use.
With regular verbs:
- first group – verbs e.g. cant-are – add the ending -i.: studiare – Lei studi; mangiare – Lei mangi – cantare – Lei canti
- second and third group – verbs e.g. mett-ere, dorm-ire add the ending -a: mettere – lei metta; dormire – lei dorma
These are the most frequent irregular verbs conjugated in formal ‘Lei’ imperative form:
- fare – Lei faccia
- andare – Lei vada
- dire – Lei dica
- dare – Lei dia
- stare – Lei stia
- essere – Lei sia
- avere – Lei abbia
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