Russian Imperative: How to Give Commands, Formal or Not

English makes a command by chopping the to off a verb and saying the rest a bit louder. The Russian imperative takes slightly more work to build, and in exchange it tells the listener whether you are asking for a result, inviting them to carry on, or forbidding the whole idea.

How to form the Russian imperative

The form is built from the они́ form of the verb: the present tense for an imperfective, the perfective future for a perfective. Remove the ending (-ют, -ут, -ят, -ат) and look at what is left:

The middle row is the one people ask about. Why check the я form? Because the stress is what decides, and the я form is where it shows: говорю and скажу are stressed on the ending, so they take a stressed -и; забуду is stressed on the stem, so the ending shrinks to a soft sign. One exception: a stem ending in two consonants takes -и wherever the stress falls, which is why помнить gives помни. You will not always be able to hear the difference at first, which is one more reason to learn a verb's stress with the verb.

For вы, whether one person addressed politely or several people, add -те to the ты form:

The stem is the one the present or future already uses, consonant changes included: скажут gives скажи́, пишут gives пиши, помогут gives помоги́. If you know the conjugation, you already have the imperative.

Reflexive verbs keep their -ся

A verb ending in -ся keeps it, as -ся after a consonant or й and -сь after a vowel: бояться gives Не бо́йся (don't be afraid), садиться gives садись and Сади́тесь (sit down). The -те goes before the reflexive ending, never after it.

Irregular imperatives worth learning now

Most of the irregulars are among the commonest verbs, which is the usual way with irregulars:

Дава́й is the one to learn first, because it stopped being only an imperative long ago. It is also the Russian for let's, come on and OK then, and you will hear it a dozen times a day.

Aspect: one result, or the whole activity

Most everyday Russian verbs come in an aspect pair, and both halves have an imperative. The choice changes the tone of the command more than its content.

The perfective asks for one specific action with a result. It is the neutral way to make a request:

Позвони́ мне за́втра. - Call me tomorrow.

Скажи́, где ты был. - Tell me where you were.

Возьми́ ключ. - Take the key.

The imperfective does three other jobs. It tells someone to start or carry on (Говори́! go on, say it), it makes invitations, where it sounds warmer than the perfective (Сади́тесь, do sit down), and it covers repeated actions (Звони́ мне ка́ждый день, call me every day). A host who says Сади́тесь is being hospitable; one who used the perfective would sound as if they were directing you to a particular chair.

Here are the pairs side by side:

The perfective column is not ruder, only more businesslike. In a shop, an assistant's Посмотрите is a neutral have a look; a friend's Смотри́! is closer to look at that! Смотри on its own also works as a warning, watch out, which is the imperfective's sense of paying attention over time.

Don't: the negative is nearly always imperfective

Put не in front and the aspect usually switches to imperfective, because a prohibition bans the whole activity rather than one result:

Не говори́! - Don't say it!

Не звони́ мне. - Don't call me.

Не ходи́ туда́. - Don't go there.

The exception is useful rather than awkward. A negated perfective is a warning against something that might happen by accident: Не забу́дь! (don't forget!) Nobody forgets on purpose, so this is not a ban on an activity but a warning about an outcome, and the perfective is exactly right for it.

Let's, and let him

Russian has no separate let's form. It uses дава́й, or давайте for вы, with one of two partners:

• the мы form of a perfective: Дава́й посмо́трим, let's have a look;
• the infinitive of an imperfective: Дава́й рабо́тать, let's get working.

Verbs of going can drop the давай entirely: Пойдём! means let's go on its own, and you will hear it far more often than any textbook version.

For a third person, let him or let her, use пусть with the ordinary он form: Пусть он ска́жет, let him say it, or, with a shrug, Пусть говори́т, let him talk.

The commands you will hear every day

A handful of imperatives do so much work in everyday Russian that they have almost stopped being commands. Learn these as phrases before you learn the rules behind them:

Скажите, пожа́луйста, ско́лько э́то стои́т? is how you ask a price, and Скажите, пожа́луйста, где... is how you ask directions. Neither is abrupt: that opening is the polite formula, and a learner who builds a longer run-up is working harder for a worse result. Слу́шай, дава́й за́втра (look, let's do it tomorrow) shows two of them working together as ordinary conversational glue.

Stress in the imperative

The rule that chose -и also tells you where the stress goes. Every -и imperative formed from an end-stressed я form keeps the stress on that -и: govorí, skazhí, pishí, pomogí. The -й and -ь forms keep the stress wherever the stem had it: délay, slúshay, zabúd. In the -те forms the stress stays put, so govoríte, skazhíte, délayte. This is one of the few places in Russian where the stress is genuinely predictable, so take the gift.

Is the Russian imperative rude?

No, and English speakers overcorrect for this constantly. English wraps requests in could you possibly and would you mind; Russian uses the imperative for ordinary requests, and the politeness sits in the вы form and in пожа́луйста. Помогите, пожа́луйста is a perfectly polite way to ask a stranger for help. Извини́те and Прости́те are themselves imperatives: excuse me and forgive me.

There is a softer frame, Вы не могли́ бы plus an infinitive (could you not...), and it is worth knowing for formal situations. It is a step up in formality, though, not the minimum. Use it for everything and you sound like a nervous civil servant.

Two smaller softeners do more of the everyday work. The first is пожа́луйста itself, which can go before or after the verb: Подожди́те, пожа́луйста and Пожа́луйста, подожди́те are both ordinary, and the second is what you will see on signs and hear in announcements. What turns it into a genuine plea is the voice, a long, leaned-on пожа́луйста, not its position. The second is the colloquial particle -ка, hyphenated onto the end of a ты command: скажи-ка, посмотри-ка, давай-ка. It turns an instruction into something closer to go on then or let's just, friendly and slightly teasing, and it belongs with friends and family rather than with your bank manager. You do not need to produce it yet, but you will hear it constantly, and it is worth recognising that скажи-ка is not a different verb.

Mistakes English speakers make

1. Forming it from the infinitive. The imperative comes from the они form, not the infinitive: говорят gives говори́.
2. Forgetting the consonant changes. Скажут gives скажи́, not сказай. The stem is the one the conjugation uses.
3. Using the ты form with strangers. Скажите, not скажи́, to anyone you would call вы.
4. Perfective in a ban. Не скажи is not the ban you want. On its own it is a set phrase meaning I wouldn't be so sure, and inside a warning (смотри, не скажи ему) it means mind you don't let it slip. For don't say it use Не говори́.
5. Putting -те after -ся. Сади́тесь, never садисьте.
6. Hedging everything. An imperative with пожа́луйста is polite. Endless could you constructions sound odd, not courteous.

What to do next

Take the ten verbs you use most and write down the они form of each; the imperative is sitting inside it. Then make each command twice, once to a friend and once to your teacher, and add a negative: Скажи́, скажите, Не говори́. The aspect choice is the same judgement you have already made in the past and the future, so by now it should feel like a question you know how to ask, even when the answer still takes a moment.