Like any other situation in German, there are two ways of giving commands. Depending on who you are talking to, you would use either formal or informal commands.

Formal commands

To make a polite request or command in German, place the full verb at the beginning of the sentence, then add Sie - the polite form of “you".

To ask somebody not to do something in a polite manner, add nicht after Sie.

Use informal commands to give orders for your younger relatives or friends.

In the previous lesson, you have learned that every German verb consists of a stem and an ending (either –n or –en).

We just need the verb stem to form informal commands.

Add an –e to the stem to form a command if the verb stem ends in -t, -d, or -fn.

Moreover, pay attention that there is a vowel change in some verbs. Here are some examples where the “e” in the stem changes to an “i”.

Practice

Let’s practice by listening to conversations between Mike and his grandma in three different situations below. Pay attention to how formal and informal commands are used. In the recording, you’ll hear these verbs:

So far, we’ve covered how to make the German commands in both formal and informal language. Hope this helps and don’t forget to follow our website for more interesting German lessons!

Tags: German imperative, giving commands in German, German formal commands, German informal commands, German speaking lesson, learn German speaking, German communication, learn German online