The imperative mood is used to give orders, direct advice, and to give directions. It is only used in the present tense and, because of its direct nature, it is more often used with the second persons singular and plural, depending on whether you are talking to one or more people. The imperative does, however, exist in all persons, except the first person singular.The first person plural--noi--may also be used when expressing Let's + verb.
In the following table you can see the imperative conjugations for verbs ending in -are. Note that only the second person singular has a special imperative form: stem + -a. Noi and voi use the present indicative form and Lei and Loro use the present subjunctive.
Verbs ending in -ere and -ire also use their present indicative and subjunctive forms in the imperative tense.
NB: Loro is used to formally address groups of people. In contemporary Italian it is used infrequently and you will hear voi much more frequently, even in formal situations.
In the following table you can see the imperative conjugations for verbs ending in -are. Note that only the second person singular has a special imperative form: stem + -a. Noi and voi use the present indicative form and Lei and Loro use the present subjunctive.
parlare | mangiare | guardare | |
| tu | parla! | mangia! | guarda! |
| Lei | parli! | mangi! | guardi! |
| noi | parliamo! | mangiamo! | guardiamo! |
| voi | parlate! | mangiate! | guardate! |
| Loro | parlino! | mangino! | guardino! |
Examples:
| Cosa fai? Canta con noi! What are you doing? Sing with us! Guardate là! Avete visto quell'uccello? Look there! Did you see that bird? Adesso mangiamo! Now let's eat! Signora, resti pure a cena! Ma’am, please stay for dinner! |
Verbs ending in -ere and -ire also use their present indicative and subjunctive forms in the imperative tense.
prendere | aprire | finire | |
| tu | prendi! | apri! | finisci! |
| Lei | prenda! | apra! | finisca! |
| noi | prendiamo! | apriamo! | finiamo! |
| voi | prendete! | aprite! | finite! |
| Loro | prendano! | aprano! | finiscano! |
Examples:
| Prenda il libro! Take the book! Apriamo le finestre! Oggi c’è un bel sole. Let's open the windows! The sun is shining today. Finite la zuppa, ragazzi! Finish the soup, you guys! Non voglio rispondere io. Rispondi tu! I don't want to reply. You reply! |
NB: Loro is used to formally address groups of people. In contemporary Italian it is used infrequently and you will hear voi much more frequently, even in formal situations.