The wir-Imperative and Other Command Strategies

Not every command is aimed at "you." Sometimes you want to include yourself — Let's go!, Let's take a break — and sometimes a command is aimed at no one in particular, like the instructions on a sign or in a recipe. German has dedicated, very natural ways to do both, and the most important takeaway for English speakers is that German signs and public notices use a form English never uses for commands: the bare infinitive.

The wir-imperative: "let's..."

To make an inclusive command — one that means "you and I together" — German inverts the verb and wir, exactly the way the polite form inverts verb and Sie. The form is identical to the wir present tense; you just front the verb.

Notice that sein keeps its irregular subjunctive-style form here too: Seien wir... (Let's be...), parallel to the polite Seien Sie...! This is the one wir-imperative you cannot derive from the present tense (wir sind), so learn Seien wir! as a fixed phrase.

lass uns... and lasst uns...: the everyday alternative

In casual spoken German, the wir-imperative can sound slightly bookish or theatrical for some suggestions. The everyday equivalent uses lassen (to let) with uns: Lass uns... when you are talking to one friend, Lasst uns... when you are talking to a group. This maps neatly onto English "let's" (literally "let us"), so it feels intuitive.

The verb chain is lass(t) uns + infinitive at the end: Lass uns gehen, Lass uns essen gehen, Lasst uns anfangen. Choose lass vs lasst by how many people you are addressing — the same du/ihr split as ordinary imperatives, because lass! and lasst! are themselves the imperative forms of lassen.

wollen wir...?: suggesting as a question

A third, very soft option phrases the suggestion as a wollen wir...? question (literally "do we want to..."). It is gentler than a command because it openly asks for agreement.

Commands aimed at no one: the bare infinitive

Here is the construction that genuinely surprises English speakers. On signs, public notices, machine displays, recipes, and assembly instructions, German does not use an imperative at all — it uses the bare infinitive, placed (with any objects) at the very front, with the infinitive itself at the end of the phrase. The verb is capitalised only because it is the first word of a heading, but the infinitive keeps its -en ending.

This is a register convention, not a different grammar of commands. English uses true imperatives on signs (Close the door, Shake well before use, No smoking — the last being a noun phrase rather than an infinitive). German reserves the infinitive for this impersonal, notice-board register precisely because it addresses everyone and no one: it does not commit to du, ihr, or Sie, which would force the writer to assume a relationship with the reader. The infinitive sidesteps the whole address system. Using a real imperative on a sign — Schließ die Tür! — would sound oddly personal, as if the sign were talking to one specific friend.

The impersonal passive: commands without a commander

A close cousin appears on prohibition signs and in stern announcements: the impersonal passive with man implied. Hier wird nicht geraucht! literally means "Here there-is-no smoking," but functions as a firm "No smoking here." It is even more impersonal — and often more emphatic — than the infinitive, because it states the rule as a simple fact of the world rather than addressing anyone at all.

This overlaps with the broader topic of the impersonal passive and alternatives and with man vs the passive; here it is enough to recognise it as one more way German gives an instruction without naming a "you."

Choosing among the strategies

Common Mistakes

The two errors English speakers make most are translating "let's" too literally (forgetting that lassen takes a bare infinitive and that lass / lasst must agree with the number of listeners) and not recognising the bare-infinitive sign convention — either reading Nicht rauchen! as a strange fragment, or producing a too-personal Rauch nicht! on a notice where German wants the impersonal infinitive.

Key Takeaways

• wir-imperative = invert verb + wir: Gehen wir! (Let's go!). Identical to a wir-question except for intonation.
• lass(t) uns + infinitive is the casual "let's"; use lass for one person, lasst for a group.
• wollen wir...? suggests softly by asking for agreement.
• German signs, recipes, and public instructions use the bare infinitive at the end (Nicht rauchen!, Tür schließen!), not an imperative — a register convention English does not share.
• The impersonal passive (Hier wird nicht geraucht!) states a rule with no addressee at all.