The Imperative of Verbs
Повелительное наклонение глагола
Like in English the imperative in Russian conveys a request, command or strong injunction.
The imperative has only the 2nd person singular and plural.
| Infinitive | Singular | Formation of the Imperative | Endings |
The imperative of verbs whose stem ends in a vowel is formed with the help of the ending -й : | |||
| читать | я чита-ю (I read) | чита + й |
|
The imperative of verbs whose stem ends in a consonant is formed with the help of the ending -и, if the stress in the 1st person singular falls on the ending: | |||
| говорить | я говор-ю (I speak) | говор + и |
|
The imperative of verbs whose stem ends in a consonant is formed with the help of the ending -ь, if the stress in the 1st person singular falls on the stem: | |||
| резать | я реж-у (I cut) | реж + ь |
|
In the plural the ending -те is added to the singular form: читайте! говорите! режьте!
Verbs with the particle -ся (учиться - to study) invariably take this particle at the end of all their forms:
-ся after a consonant - занимайся!
-сь after a vowel учись! учитесь! занимайтесь!
REMEMBER: if a verb has an alternation only in the 1st person singular (готовить - я готовлю)
the imperative is formed from the 2nd person (ты готов-ишь - готовь! готовьте!)
exercise
http://www.rus-on-line.ru/Exercises/Grammar/exer-gram-0024.html
