Imperatives in British English - Ace English Club

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Grammar
A1

Imperatives in British English

Imperatives are verbs that tell others what to do.

Imperative verbs are placed at the beginning of each sentence.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use imperatives and practise using some of them.

What are imperatives?

Imperatives are verbs that tell others what to do.
Some verb examples – do, put, play, run.
They are used in recipes, instructions and rules.
To use a negative imperative – add ‘don’t’ before the verb.
Use ‘please’ to be more polite.

Examples

1. Put the rubbish in the bin.

2. Be quiet please!

3. Don’t run inside the house.

Remember: start your sentence with a verb.

Practise

Put the correct imperatives into the correct sentences.

Common mistakes learners make

Adding a subject
Using ‘not’ instead of ‘don’t’ for negatives
Confusing imperatives with requests or questions

Common mistakes learners make

Adding a subject
Using ‘not’ instead of ‘don’t’ for negatives
Confusing imperatives with requests or questions

Watch: Imperatives explained by a British tutor

In this video, Claire explains how to use imperatives and gives more examples.

Read more:

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