The Imperative

The Dutch imperative is, in its bare form, the single simplest verb form in the language: it is just the stem — the verb stripped down to its base, with nothing added. Kom! ("Come!"), Wacht! ("Wait!"), Luister! ("Listen!"). There is no ending to learn, no person to track, and — unlike in English, where "Come!" and "Let us come!" feel worlds apart — Dutch builds the polite and the collective versions out of the same small set of pieces. This page shows you the four shapes a command can take: the bare stem, the polite u-form, the separable-verb split, and the laten we "let's." It also flags the one thing English speakers almost always get wrong about Dutch commands — that the bare stem alone often sounds too blunt, and native speakers routinely soften it.

The bare stem is the imperative

To form a command, take the verb's stem — the infinitive minus -en, re-spelled to obey the open/closed-syllable rule (see verbs/fundamentals/infinitive-and-stem). That stem is the imperative. There is nothing to add.

Watch the spelling: the stem follows the same re-spelling rules as the present tense. Wachten gives wacht (the -t is part of the stem, not an ending), gaan gives ga (one a, because the syllable is now open), and luisteren keeps both syllables: luister. A handful of stems would end in a doubled consonant or a v/z that Dutch spelling forbids word-finally, so they shift: leven → leef, reizen → reis.

Same form for jij and jullie

Here English speakers get a pleasant surprise. English doesn't mark the imperative for number, and neither does Dutch: the same bare stem is used whether you're commanding one person (jij) or several (jullie). You don't add anything for the plural.

This is a relief after the present tense, where jij and jullie take different endings. In the imperative, that distinction collapses. The verb does not even hint at how many people you're addressing.

The polite u-form adds a verb

When you address someone with the formal u, the bare stem feels too curt. The polite imperative therefore looks like a verb-first question without the question: it uses the u-form of the verb (stem + -t) — but you usually state u explicitly right after it. This is the form for waiters, officials, signs in shops, and anyone you'd address formally.

Note the -t on Komt, Gaat, Wacht — this is the same ending u always triggers (u komt, u gaat), now standing first in the clause. Mentioning u is not strictly obligatory (Komt u binnen can shrink to Komt binnen), but including the pronoun is far more common and sounds more natural in modern usage. This formal imperative is a register choice: in everyday informal speech you'll almost always use the bare-stem form with softening particles instead (see below and verbs/imperative/alternatives).

Separable verbs split

If the verb is separable (like opbellen "to call up," meekomen "to come along," dichtdoen "to close"), the command splits it apart: the stem of the main verb stands first, and the particle is flung to the very end of the clause. This is the same splitting that happens in any main clause — the imperative does not change it (see verbs/separable/placement).

The particle travels to the end even when several words sit between it and the stem: Bel me morgen op ("Call me tomorrow"). English keeps "call up" together; Dutch pulls "op" off and books it for the right edge of the clause. For exactly where the particle lands relative to objects and softeners, see word-order/imperative-and-particle-order.

Two irregular imperatives: wees and heb

Almost every verb forms its imperative from the plain stem, but the two most important verbs in the language — zijn ("to be") and hebben ("to have") — have irregular imperatives you simply memorize:

Wees is the one to drill — it doesn't resemble any present-tense form of zijn. It shows up constantly in fixed warnings and reassurances.

Saying "let's": laten we

English forms the collective command with "let's." Dutch does the same job with laten we + infinitive — literally "let us" + the verb in its infinitive form, pushed to the end of the clause. There is also a more elevated laat ons, but in everyday speech laten we is the standard.

Notice that gaan sits at the end: laten we behaves like an auxiliary, so its infinitive closes the verb bracket, exactly as a modal's infinitive would. In casual speech you'll also hear the shortened laten we nou... and even the reduced laat 'm maar..., but laten we + infinitive is the form to learn.

Dutch softens its commands — a preview

This is the cultural point an English speaker needs most. A bare Dutch imperative — Kom!, Wacht!, Geef! — is grammatically perfect but often sounds curt, even rude, the way barking "Come!" or "Wait!" does in English. In real conversation, the Dutch routinely take the edge off with little softening particles — most often maar, even, and eens — which have no real English translation but tune the command from an order down to a friendly nudge.

You don't need to master the particle system yet — just absorb the habit: a real Dutch command usually has a maar or an even in it. A string of bald imperatives marks you instantly as a foreigner who sounds harsher than they mean to. The full system lives in modal-particles/maar and modal-particles/even, and the politer alternatives (questions, modals, signs) are gathered in verbs/imperative/alternatives.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• The imperative is the bare stem — no ending, no subject pronoun: Kom!, Wacht!, Luister!.
• The same form serves both jij and jullie; number is not marked.
• The polite imperative uses the -t form and usually states u: Komt u binnen, Gaat u zitten.
• Separable verbs split, with the particle stranded at the end: Bel me op!, Doe de deur dicht.
• Two irregulars to memorize: wees (from zijn) and heb (from hebben).
• "Let's" is laten we
  • infinitive: Laten we beginnen.
• A bare command can sound curt; native speakers soften with maar and even: Kom maar, Wacht even.