Imperative Verbs

At the moment the only way we have to give an order is to ask politely for someone to do something.

電話してください。

Please call me.

If we want to add force to these requests we need to use the imperative.

Group 1

Group 1 verbs have two forms of the imperative.

English	Dictionary	Standard	Archaic
to go	行く	行け	行きなさい
to reply	返す	返せ	返しなさい
to request	頼む	頼め	頼みなさい
to drink	飲む	飲め	飲みなさい
to exist	ある	あれ	ありなさい

Note that from the above the imperative of the auxiliary verb becomes であれ.

Group 2

Group 2 verbs have three forms of the imperative, which I’m going to call the literary, verbal, and archaic because of their general usage.

English	Dictionary	Literary	Verbal	Archaic
to eat	食べる	食べよ	食べろ	食べなさい
to accept	受ける	受けよ	受けろ	受けなさい
to see	見る	見よ	見ろ	見なさい
to leave	出る	出よ	出ろ	出なさい

Group 3

Group 3 verbs also have three forms of the imperative.

English	Dictionary	Literary	Verbal	Archaic
to do	する	せよ	しろ	しなさい
to come	来る	来よ	来い	来なさい

In terms of general usage, the archaic form is a lot softer than others. For example, it will be used by a parent to tell their children to eat or go to bed.

もう１０時だから早く寝なさいよ。

It’s already 10 o’clock so get to bed quickly.

The addition of よ to the imperative can help soften it.
As I have alluded to previous, Japanese is a language which places much emphasis on the underlying power dynamics. The imperative form (especially the forms other than the archaic) of the verb very much debases the listener and therefore needs to be used carefully. Even in jocular manner, a subordinate in a company would never use it towards their boss; nor would anyone towards a customer.

みんなが待っているから早く来い！

Everyone’s waiting so come quickly!

自分で判断しろ！

Judge for yourself!

黙れ！

Shut up!

時間を守れ！

Be punctual!

中途半端な作業をやっちゃったらみんな困るからしっかりやれよ。

If you do a half-baked job then it will be a problem for everyone so do it properly.

Honorific verbs deserve a special mention because they are used to form a number of very common phrases in Japanese. Honorific verbs conjugate as group 1 verbs and so have two forms of the imperative. The three most important verbs are given in the table below.

English	Dictionary	Standard	Archaic
to deign	下さる	下され	下さい
to exist	いらっしゃる	いらっしゃれ	いらっしゃい
to do	なさる	なされ	なさい

You may have noticed that archaic form of the imperative of the verb “to deign” is the standard ending with the te form to say “please”.

早く来てください。

Please come quickly.

To this you may also hear ませ added. Indeed, enter any shop or restaurant in Japan and the staff will welcome you with a polite order to enter their premises!

いらっしゃいませ！

Please come in!

僕の本を忘れないでくださいね。

Please don’t forget my book.

The imperative form of なさる is used with some common phrases.

おやすみなさい。

Goodnight!

お帰りなさい。

Welcome home.

What about ordering someone to not to do something? This one is simple: we just add な to the dictionary form of the verb.

忘れるな！

Don’t forget!

破るならそもそも約束するな。

If you’re going to break your promise don’t make it in the first place.

携帯で国際電話をするなと子どもに叱る。

Scold the child for making international calls from their mobile.

ぼんやりするな。

Get your head out of the clouds!

The Imperative with Adjectives

Finally, while adjectives technically have an imperative form you will rarely see them used unless in the form of an old saying.

良かれ悪かれ。

For better or worse.