The Imperative and Commands

The imperative is the mood of commands, requests, and instructions — "come here," "talk slower," "pass the salt." Icelandic builds it in a way that has no neat English parallel: in everyday speech the verb and the pronoun þú ("you") fuse into one word — komdu ("come!"), farðu ("go!") — so that the most natural command form is a single fused unit, not a bare verb. This page covers the bare-stem imperative, that all-important fused -ðu form, the plural and polite forms, and how to say "let's." Negative commands and third-person wishes ("may he...") belong to their own pages; here we stay with direct orders.

The bare-stem singular imperative

The plainest imperative to one person is the bare stem of the verb — usually identical to the ég (1sg present) form. Drop the -a of the infinitive and you have it:

This bare form is real, but it sounds abrupt and clipped — you meet it in signs, slogans, drill commands, and emphatic outbursts more than in normal conversation. For everyday talk, Icelandic strongly prefers the fused form below.

The everyday command: the -ðu clitic

In real spoken Icelandic, the default singular command is the verb with the pronoun þú cliticised onto the end — reduced and glued on as -ðu (or -du / -tu after certain sounds). This is the form you will actually hear and use constantly:

The clitic surfaces in three shapes, chosen by the sound it lands on — the same dental assimilation you meet elsewhere:

• -ðu after a vowel or voiced consonant: gef + ðu → gefðu, sýn + ðu → sýndu, tala + ðu → talaðu.
• -du after certain consonants where -ðu would be awkward: kom + du → komdu, far + du → farðu (the r
  • d gives farðu in spelling).
• -tu after a voiceless consonant: tak + tu → taktu, les + tu → lestu, ver + tu → vertu, hætt + u → hættu.

You do not need to compute these from scratch for every verb — the common ones (komdu, farðu, gefðu, taktu, lestu, vertu) are worth learning as fixed words, since they are among the highest-frequency forms in the language.

The plural and the polite: use the 2pl

To command more than one person, or to be more formal/polite to one, use the 2nd person plural present form — the -ið ending — with no clitic:

The phrase gjörðu svo vel (singular) / gerið svo vel (plural) — literally "do so well" — is the standard way to hand someone something or to say "go ahead, please." Gjörðu svo vel is the polite singular you hear when a waiter sets down your plate.

Saying "let's": the 1pl

For "let's _" — a command including yourself — Icelandic has two equally natural options:

1. við skulum + infinitive: við skulum fara ("let's go"), við skulum sjá ("let's see").
2. The bare 1pl present used as a hortative: förum! ("let's go!"), byrjum! ("let's start!").

Note the second pattern triggers u-umlaut on an a-stem: fara → förum (a→ö before -um), taka → tökum. This is the same 1pl umlaut as in the ordinary present "we go."

Softening a command

A bare imperative can sound brusque. Icelandic softens commands with small particles and politeness words:

• nú ("now," but here a softening flavour particle): komdu nú ("come on, then"), hættu nú ("oh, stop now").
• vinsamlegast ("kindly, please") — the formal "please," common in writing and announcements: Vinsamlegast slökkvið á símum ("Please switch off your phones").
• bara ("just"): farðu bara ("just go ahead").

A glance at negative commands

To say "don't _," Icelandic places ekki ("not") and the verb stays in the imperative — typically with ekki before the verb: Ekki gera þetta! ("Don't do that!"), Ekki fara! ("Don't go!"). The detailed placement rules live on the negation page; the key contrast to register now is that the negative does not fuse the pronoun the way the positive komdu does.

Common Mistakes

Keeping the full pronoun þú after the verb sounds archaic or emphatic. The normal spoken command fuses it: komdu, farðu, gefðu. Use the clitic as your default.

The cliticised þú loses its þ; it attaches as -ðu / -du / -tu, never as a separate þu. Gef + ðu → gefðu (one word, with eth).

The dental assimilates to the preceding sound. After voiceless k it is -tu: taktu, lestu (les + tu), vertu (ver + tu). Takdu and lesdu are wrong.

For "don't _," ekki comes before the imperative verb, and the verb does not take the clitic: Ekki fara!, Ekki gera þetta! — not fara ekki.

Key Takeaways

• The bare stem (tala! far! kom!) is a real but abrupt imperative — signs and emphasis, not everyday talk.
• The fused -ðu / -du / -tu clitic is the normal spoken command: komdu, farðu, gefðu, taktu, lestu, vertu. Learn these as whole words.
• The clitic spelling follows assimilation: -ðu after voiced (gefðu), -du in komdu/farðu, -tu after voiceless (taktu, lestu).
• The plural / polite imperative is the 2pl -ið form: komið, talið, gerið — and gjörðu svo vel / gerið svo vel is "here you are."
• "Let's" is við skulum + infinitive or the bare 1pl (förum!, with a→ö umlaut).
• There is no everyday word for "please"; soften with nú, the clitic, or takk — vinsamlegast is the formal/written "please."