For the imperative, we use the present tense? of the 1st person singular. For regular verbs, this is the verb stem?
| Ga weg!
| Go away!
|
| Gooi dat maar weg.
| Just throw that away.
|
| Neem dat mee.
| Take that with you.
|
| Kom eens mee.
| Just come here.
|
The verb zijn has an irregular imperative. Instead of ben (1st person singular), we use the stem of the verb wezen (an oldfashioned form of zijn):
If you want to be polite, you can use the present tense? of the more formal 2nd person. If you use the polite imperative, you have to add the personal pronoun u:
| Vult u dit formulier in.
| Fill in the form.
|
| Betaalt u aan de kassa.
| Pay at the counter.
|
| Blijft u maar zitten.
| Just remain seated.
|
| Weest u maar niet bang.
| Don't be afraid.
|
For the English expression "let's ...". we say: laten we ...
| Laten we wat gaan drinken.
| Let's go for a drink.
|
| Laten we gaan.
| Let's go.
|
Note that we use we not ons.
When a command is general and no particular person is addressed, we use the infinitive. This is particularly common on public signs.
| Niet roken
| Do not smoke
|
| Niet aanraken
| Do not touch
|
| Trekken / duwen
| Pull / push
|
| Niet storen
| Do not disturb
|
Mistoqsijiet?