Cjelina 1: Dobro došli natrag!
🔗 1 | 5 | Gramatika: Imperativ, 1. dio
The Imperative
You have already encountered the imperative mood last year. In this lesson, we will briefly review how the imperative works and how it is formed. Remember, the imperative is used to give commands, make requests, or offer suggestions. Because it is directed to someone directly, personal pronouns are not usually used with the imperative.
☰ Verbs in –ti
Rules for Imperative
The imperative mood expresses a command and personal pronouns are not used in the imperative. The Imperative is used to express commands in the second person singular (ti) and first (mi) and second (vi) persons plural. It is formed by adding a certain ending to each form. Look at the tables below. The present tense form is also given for better understanding why we form the imperative in this specific way.
Endings #1
| Infinitive | gledati (gled–am) | kupovati (kup-u-jem) |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd person sing. – ti | gleda–j | kup-u–j |
| 1st person pl. – mi | gleda–jmo | kup-u–jmo |
| 2nd person pl. – vi/Vi | gleda–jte | kup-u–jte |
The first type of endings is used for most regular -ti verbs (usually those ending in –ati [gledati] or –ovati [kupovati]). Compare the above present tense form with the imperative form to see the similarities within the stem of the verb.
Endings #2
| Infinitive | kupiti (kup–im) | živjeti (živ–im) | trčati (trč–im) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd person sing. – ti | kup–i | živ–i | trč–i |
| 1st person pl. – mi | kup–imo | živ–imo | trč–imo |
| 2nd person pl. – vi/Vi | kup–ite | živ–ite | trč–ite |
The second type of endings are used mostly for the verbs that end in –iti [kupiti], –jeti [voljeti], or certain –ati verbs that do not follow the regular ending paradigm within that group [trčati, kihati, disati]. Always think of the present tense when forming the imperative, it will help you determine what type of endings to use.
What happens with the third person singular/plural in the Imperative?
If you think about it, we cannot actually give a direct command to him/her/them. Since a third person is not in our company we cannot express a command directly. Think of the English structure “let him eat the salad.” With this structure we are saying to someone (who is in our company) to send our message to a third person (who is not in our company) that he can eat the salad. This same notion/structure exists in Croatian as well. To form the third person singular or plural form in the imperative, we used the following structure: neka + present tense of the 3rd person singular or plural.
| Infinitive | Imperative 3rd person sing. | Imperative 3rd person pl. |
|---|---|---|
| GLADATI (gled–am) | neka gleda | neka gledaju |
| KUPOVATI (kup-u-jem) | neka kupuje | neka kupuju |
| KUPITI (kup–im) | neka kupi | neka kupe |
| ŽIVJETI (živ–im) | neka živi | neka žive |
| TRČATI (trč–im) | neka trči | neka trče |
🛑 Prohibiting action
The imperative in its negative form expresses the prohibition in doing something. There are two possible ways to express prohibition in Croatian. We will use the verb pričati as an example.
Strong prohibition
To express strong prohibition – use NE in front of the imperative form
| Pronoun | Singular | Pronoun | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | – | mi | ne pričajmo |
| ti | ne pričaj | vi | ne pričajte |
| on/-a | neka ne priča | oni/-e | neka ne pričaju |
Something between request and prohibition
To express something between a request and prohibition.
It is formed by using: nemoj, nemojmo nemojte + infinitive.
| Pronoun | Singular | Pronoun | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | – | mi | nemojmo pričati |
| ti | nemoj pričati | vi | nemojte pričati |
| on/-a | – | oni/-e | – |
☰ Verbs in –ći
The –ći verbs (such as reći) in their imperative forms will all undergo certain sound changes. These verbs have to be memorized. There is a rule that can help you in memorizing the forms: think of the third person plural of the present tense when forming the imperative of –ći verbs. All –ći verbs will take the second type of endings that we mentioned in the previous grammar section.
| 2nd person sing. – ti | 1st person pl. – mi | 2nd person pl. – vi/Vi |
|---|---|---|
| –i | –imo | –ite |
Look at the following groups of –ći verbs and how we form the imperative.
Group #1
Verbs like reći (to say) and peći (to bake)
The present tense of these two verbs is: reći > oni reknu / oni reku, peći > oni peku. As you can see, in their Present Tense forms, both of these verbs have their infinitive stem in -k- (oni rek-u, oni pek-u). Since the stem of the verb ends in –k– and when combined with the –i ending, a certain sound change happens: k + i = ci.
| Infintive | reći (oni rek–nu) | peći (oni pek-u) |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd person sing. – ti | re-c–i | pe-c–i |
| 1st person pl. – mi | re-c–imo | pe-c–imo |
| 2nd perison pl. – vi/Vi | re-c–ite | pe-c–ite |
Group #2
Verbs like leći (to lie down) nad pomoći (to help)
The present tense of these two verbs is: leći > oni legnu, pomoći > oni pomognu. As you can see, in their Present Tense forms, both of these verbs have their infinitive stem in -g- (oni leg-nu, oni pomog-nu). Since the stem of the verb ends in –g– and when combined with the –i ending, a certain sound change happens: g + i = zi.
| Infinitive | leći (oni leg–nu)* | pomoći (oni pomog-nu)* |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd person sing. – ti | le-z–i | pomo-z–i |
| 1st person pl. – mi | le-z–imo | pomo-z–imo |
| 2nd person pl. – vi/Vi | le-z–ite | pomo-z–ite |
Group #3
Verbs that derive from ići : poći, doći, otići, etc.
Think of these verbs and their present tense third person plural ‘they’) forms. You will add the appropriate ending to the stem of the verb.
| Infinitive | poći (pođ–u) | doći (dođ–u) | otići (otiđ–u) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd person sing. – ti | po-đ–i | do-đ–i | oti-đ–i |
| 1st person pl. – mi | po-đ–imo | do-đ–imo | oti-đ–imo |
| 2nd person pl. – vi/Vi | po-đ–ite | do-đ–ite | oti-đ–ite |
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