GrammarA1· In der Stadt
Der Imperativ
The imperative: giving instructions
Kartoffel · your teacher
Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.
From what you know
Du steigst am Alexanderplatz aus.becomesSteig am Alexanderplatz aus!6 parts · about 5 min
1What & when
In one line
In one lineThe verb goes first. Sie stays after it; du and ihr disappear: du gehstbecomes
1
Before
Sie gehen geradeaus.
Watch the sentence change …
For Sie, the verb just jumps to the front: Gehen Sie …!
„Gehen Sie geradeaus!“ — Go straight on!
Kartoffel
First, what is it?
The is the verb form for instructions, requests and advice: German has three forms of it. There is one for each word for “you”: Sie, du and ihr.
Kartoffel
And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:
In der StadtIn the city you hear it all the time. Someone explains the way. You tell a friend which train to take. Or you tell children to wait at the lights. Directions in German sound like orders (). But they are polite, especially with bitte.
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