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  • Straighten that spine! Stand up straight! Imperatives. Welcome. James, from EngVid.

  • If I seem crazy, I was giving orders, sir! Okay? An "imperative" is a command. I mean,

  • we have statements in English. We have questions. You know, we've done lessons on those. An

  • imperative is usually a command. I'm going to give you a quick primer, or quick lesson,

  • on imperatives. Nothing special. And then, I want to do something a little different.

  • I want to show you how to modify it. So let's look at imperatives.

  • What is an imperative? As I said, it's a command. You tell somebody to do something. You do

  • not ask. You just tell them and expect it to be done. "Shut up. Sit down. Get out."

  • That's it.

  • Next, how do we make an imperative? Well, when I said, "Shut up. Sit down. Get out",

  • you notice the verb is in the infinitive form minus "to". There is no "to". "I have to",

  • "got to" -- nothing. Just the verb -- or you could say "base form". Right? No particle "to".

  • Next, an imperative, when given, it's in the second person. I know not everybody understands

  • the second and third person, so I'll be quick, but hopefully easy. I'll make it easy for

  • you. First person is "I". I am the first person. You speak about yourself. The third person

  • is when you talk about groups and others. Right? "They" or "them" or "we". The second

  • person is a strange one. It's "you". Well, sometimes, you want to say to someone, like,

  • "You can do this. You can do that." That's the second person because I'm speaking to

  • someone directly, and that's you, you the audience. "You" can be either singular or

  • plural. When we talk about imperatives, we're talking about "you". "Sit down. You sit down."

  • We just don't say it. Right? So when somebody tells you to sit down, really, they're saying,

  • "You sit down." They just don't say it. It's understood. And a command is direct. You cannot

  • interpret -- which means trying to translate or figure it out -- you're just supposed to

  • do it. Right? "Drive slower." Don't try to translate. Just do it. Right?

  • Now, also, one other small thing. Usually, imperatives are not given with modals. There's

  • a small exception. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, we use "be able to". But when

  • we use "be able to", it's very specific.

  • Here we go. Okay? Your instructor or coach at the

  • gym might say to you, right, "You need to be able to do 100 pushups tomorrow." "Be able

  • to". It's an order. It's not asking you. It's not "can you do them?" It's, "Be able to read

  • this or recite this tomorrow." You must do it. It's an order. It's the only exception,

  • really, with modals. Otherwise, we don't. And this is rarely used. But I know there

  • are some of you out there who will go, "I heard" -- and I'm telling you. So got you.

  • All right? This is the rare exception. Otherwise, modals aren't used with imperatives.

  • That's a quick imperative lesson. So we use imperatives all the time. But if you use them

  • -- and I see students doing it regularly -- you offend people because they are strong. They

  • can be rude. I know in many of your cultures, you have a language for politeness. In English,

  • we don't necessarily, but we can modify the imperative to make it more polite. I'm going

  • to show you today a few ways to do that. All right? So let's go to the board.

  • Private E, stand down. All right? Let's start off with "please", "please and thank you".

  • You hear this all the time. "Please, please, please, thank you, thank you." You know this

  • is polite. Well, how do we use "please" with an imperative, right, to make it soft? Well,

  • one of the first things I want to tell you is when we use the imperative like "sit down",

  • "sit down" is an order. It's not nice. "Sit down!" Right? "Behave!" But if I say, "Please

  • sit down", I'm offering it to you. I'm still telling you what to do, but I'm being polite.

  • So when we really want to be polite but still followed -- right? You still want to do it

  • -- you put "please" at the beginning of the sentence. "Please sit down. Please introduce

  • yourself." If you drop the "please", listen to what I'm saying. "Please sit down." "Sit

  • down." "Please introduce yourself." "Introduce yourself." I'm still saying you must do this,

  • but what I'm actually doing is being polite by saying "please" first.

  • Now, you might go, "Well, that's too nice, but I want to be a little stronger than that."

  • And I'll say, "I've got you. I've got it here for you." Right? It's like a secret thing

  • here. Got it for you. Now, when we put "please" at the end of the statement, we're giving

  • the order and then softening. What? Well, we're being strong, and then we're being polite.

  • So you might say something like, "You need to sit down, please." What? I'm being very

  • strong. "You need to do this. Or sit down, please." Right? So it's not as polite. It's

  • stronger, but you're still nice. Right? "Have your tickets ready, please." All right? Strong.

  • I'm telling you what to do, but I'm being polite. Okay?

  • So you have a choice where you put the "please". Generally, when we really want to be polite,

  • we put the "please" first. "Please have something to eat." Right? "Please be a little quieter."

  • "Please be nice." When we want to be stronger, we say, "Stop doing that, please." "Not so

  • fast, please." I give you the order, then I soften it.

  • Those are your first two. You like that?

  • I've got a little more for you. Now, sometimes -- now, remember. Let's go back. When I talked

  • about this, an imperative, I said we speak in the second person, right? We were talking

  • about "you". But what happens if you want to include yourself in the imperative? Right?

  • You might want to. You're joining someone. Well, we're going to put this one here, "let's".

  • "Let's" really means "let us." And that's the key. It's the joining part. You and I.

  • So we can use this when we want to do something together and we want to make a suggestion.

  • Remember, the imperative is still there, but we're making more of a suggestion. "Let's

  • go to dinner." "Let's travel to Mexico." "Let's talk about it." Now, think about what I said.

  • "Let's" means not just you. I'm not talking about just you. I'm talking about us together.

  • "Let's go to dinner. I think we should go to dinner." So the suggestion is more like

  • a "should" statement, right? Remember I said you can't use modals? Well, in this way, we're

  • kind of using modals because it's a suggestion. "Hey. Let's go to dinner at seven. We should

  • go to dinner at seven." If you get rid of "let's", "Go to dinner at seven. It's an order,

  • Son." But you're my friend, so let's talk about it. "Let's talk about it." Once again.

  • Together. "We should talk. We should talk." Right? "Talk about it! Now!" Order. "Let's

  • talk about it together." So in doing this, I want us to work together, you, the second

  • person, and myself. All right? Together -- and it's more of a "should" and a suggestion.

  • So once again, we've softened it. We're not making it as hard. It's more polite. Okay?

  • Because I'm asking you to join me.

  • Now, what about this one? Sometimes -- when I say "let's", I don't mean me; I mean you.

  • Okay? So it's another way of being polite. What do you mean? Okay. You're in the library.

  • There are children talking -- some teenagers, you know, talking and playing video games.

  • You're studying very, very hard. You're going to get up from your desk, walk over, and say,

  • "Hey, guys. Let's be a little quieter, okay?" You're not talking about you. I'm directing

  • it at you, understand? It has nothing to do with me. But I'm a civil and polite guy, so

  • I'm saying "together" when I know I don't mean me; I mean you. Okay?

  • How about you have a friend who's always late. You might say, "Hey. Let's try to be on time

  • today, huh?" You know you're going to be there, but you know this guy is going to be late.

  • So you're telling him, "Be on time." But you say, "Hey! Let's be on time. Because I'm going

  • to be there. You need to be there." This isn't a suggestion, by the way. This is a soft order,

  • right? Well, actually, you know what? I don't like that. Let's put it like it is. It's a

  • direction. We're directing it. Right? It's directed at the other person. All right? So

  • when we say it this way, I'm really directing it at you, but I'm not -- it seems like I'm

  • including myself. I'm not. I'm trying to be polite, but I'm talking to you. All right?

  • So today, we've taken something that you've heard many times. Imperatives are orders and

  • commands. And I'm sure sometimes you just do what you're told in grammar. You use your

  • imperative. "Give me ticket." I hear that all the time. "Give me report. Tell me this."

  • And I say, [barks]. And you go, "What?" "Do I look like your dog? Do I look like your

  • bitch? No. No, I'm not. Be polite." And they go, "What do you mean?" I go, "You could say

  • 'please'." And they scratch their head because they say, "I want you to do this." And I say,

  • "Yeah. I know you're using the imperative, and you've been taught that, but there are

  • ways of using the imperative that will get what you want, be more direct and actually

  • clearer in speech." And I gave them to you.

  • So we're going to do a quick recap of the imperative, and then a quick recap of the

  • lesson. And then, you will go to EngVid, and you will study. Right? Okay. So let's go.

  • Remember: Imperatives are commands. So sometimes, you want to be, like, "Sit down. Be quiet.

  • Stop doing that." You're not trying to be nice. So don't lose it. It's something that's

  • powerful when it's used correctly. Okay?

  • Next, an imperative is basically the base form of a verb or the infinitive without "to".

  • Don't add the "to", the particle. Okay?

  • Next, remember the imperative is given in the second person. It's always about the other

  • person. That's not true because today we just learned something new, right? But generally

  • put, it's "You sit down. You be quiet. You do this." Right? You say, "Do it now." You

  • mean, "You do it now." Right? And usually, we don't use it with modals with the exception

  • of "be able to", which isn't used often, but somebody might say, "Be able to tell me the

  • names of the five capitals of Toronto." Sorry. That's doesn't exist. But, "Be able to tell

  • me the five major cities of Europe tomorrow morning." That's an order. And they're using

  • a form of a modal. But it's the rare exception. Okay?

  • Now, what we learned today is to modify. So I'm going to give you a sentence and give

  • you a second to fill it in. So let's try it. If we wanted to be polite with somebody and

  • I said, "Try the food", right, what could I say instead? "Try the food" -- if I really

  • want to be polite? Yes. "Please try the food. Please try the food." Very polite. What happens

  • if I want to be a little stronger but still nice? I could say, "Try the food, please.

  • Sit down, please." Right? In the movie theater, someone's standing up. You go, "Hey. Sit down,

  • please." You're strong but polite. Okay? By the way, this is great for really getting

  • good at your English. It's not just learning this grammar lesson, but being able to use

  • the language like a native speaker because we do it unconsciously. And now, you'll know

  • what we really mean. Okay?

  • Now, when you want to actually make that same imperative and include yourself in the statement

  • because it's not just second; you want you and the other person, you use "let's". Remember

  • that's "let us" contracted. So, "Let's go to dinner at seven o'clock." All right? "I

  • want us to go together." It's more like a "should" and a suggestion.

  • And finally, when you really want to say something strongly yet in a polite fashion, okay, you

  • could say, "Guys, let's be quiet", when you know you're not actually part of what you're

  • talking about. And it's more than a suggestion, but you're a polite individual, and we know

  • this. Why? Because you come to EngVid where you get lessons from myself as well as Valen,

  • Adam, Alex, Rebecca, Ronnie, Jade -- the list just goes on, people. Okay? It's not an order;

  • it's not an imperative, but let's go together and, you know, take the quiz. See how you

  • do. All right? Hope you had a fun time, and I look forward to working with you again.

  • So go there now, please! See you.

Straighten that spine! Stand up straight! Imperatives. Welcome. James, from EngVid.

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