Imperative Mood - Definition and Examples in English

Imperative Mood s in English In English grammar, the imperative mood is the form of the verb that makes direct commands and requests, such as Sit still and Count your blessings. The imperative mood uses the zero infinitive form, which (with the exception of be) is the same as the second person in the present tense. There are three major moods in English: the indicative mood is used to make factual statements or pose questions, the imperative mood to express a request or command, and the (rarely used) subjunctive mood to show a wish, doubt, or anything else contrary to fact. Etymology From the Latin, command Examples Save Ferris. (Slogan in the movie Ferris Buellers Day Off, 1986)Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (Philo of Alexandria)Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity. (Christopher Morleys final message to friends, colleagues, and readers, published in The New York Times after his death on March 28, 1957)Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your own wings on the way down. (Ray Bradbury, Brown Daily Herald, March 24, 1995)If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. (attributed to President Abraham Lincoln)Roar, roar, roar, Henderson-Sungo. Do not be afraid. Let go of yourself. Snarl greatly. Feel the lion.(Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King. Viking, 1959)Touch the great artery. Feel it bound like a deer in the might of its lig htness, and know the thunderless boil of the blood. Lean for a bit against this bone. It is the only memento you will leave to this earth. Its tacitness is everlasting. In the hush of the tissue wait with me for the shaft of pronouncement. Press your ear against this body, the way you did when you were a child holding a seashell and heard faintly the half-remembered, longed-for sea. (Richard Selzer, The Surgeon as Priest. Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery. Simon Schuster, 1976) Let the river rock you like a cradleClimb to the treetops, child, if youre ableLet your hands tie a knot across the table.Come and touch the things you cannot feel.And close your fingertips and fly where I cant hold youLet the sun-rain fall and let the dewy clouds enfold youAnd maybe you can sing to me the words I just told you,If all the things you feel aint what they seem.And dont mind me cause I aint nothin but a dream.(lyrics by Jerry Merrick, sung by Richie Havens, Follow)Shut up, Brain, or Ill stab you with a Q-tip! (Homer Simpson of The Simpsons)Never give in  . Never give in. Never, never, never, neverin nothing, great or small, large or pettynever give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. (Winston Churchill)Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights.Get up, stand up, Dont give up the fight. (Bob Marley, Get Up, Stand Up!)Just do it. (Nike advertising slogan) Come in, then. Dont stand staring. Close that door quick! Hustle! Dont scrape your feet on the floor. Try to look intelligent. Dont gape. (P.G. Wodehouse, Something Fresh, 1915) Pronunciation: im-PAR-uh-tiv mood