The voi imperativo is the form you use to tell two or more people to do something. Whether you are addressing your kids, your guests, your students, your team at work, or a crowd of tourists, this is the form you reach for. In modern Italian it is the universal plural command — formality essentially does not matter at the plural any more, because the formal-plural alternative (the Loro form, borrowed from the subjunctive) has been quietly dying for over a century. If you only learn one plural imperative, learn this one. You will almost never need any other.
The form: identical to presente indicativo
This is the easiest imperative to form in the entire Italian system: the voi imperativo is the same word as the voi form of the presente indicativo. No new endings, no new stems, no irregularity (with two exceptions noted below). What you already know for "voi parlate" (you all speak) is exactly what you say to give the command "speak!"
| Class | Verb | voi presente | voi imperativo |
|---|---|---|---|
| -are | parlare | parlate | parlate! |
| -are | mangiare | mangiate | mangiate! |
| -ere | prendere | prendete | prendete! |
| -ere | scrivere | scrivete | scrivete! |
| -ire | dormire | dormite | dormite! |
| -ire | venire | venite | venite! |
| -ire (-isco) | finire | finite | finite! |
Note that the -isco infix that shows up across the singular and 3rd-plural of -ire/-isco verbs (finisco, finisci, finisce, finiscono) does not appear in voi — the voi form is regular finite, not finiscate. This is consistent with the presente indicativo: -isco affects only the four "rhizotonic" forms (io, tu, lui, loro), never the noi/voi forms.
Ragazzi, parlate piano, sta dormendo il bambino.
Guys, speak quietly, the baby is sleeping.
Mangiate la pasta finché è calda!
Eat the pasta while it's hot!
Prendete posto, la conferenza sta per cominciare.
Take your seats, the lecture is about to begin.
Venite a vedere il tramonto dalla terrazza!
Come see the sunset from the terrace!
Finite i compiti prima di accendere la TV.
Finish your homework before turning on the TV.
The two true irregulars
Only essere and avere have irregular voi imperative forms. They are borrowed from the congiuntivo presente, not from the indicativo:
| Verb | voi presente | voi imperativo |
|---|---|---|
| essere | siete | siate! |
| avere | avete | abbiate! |
These are not used to give literal commands — you do not order someone to "have" or "be" something — but to express the kind of moral injunction or wish that English handles with "be" + adjective ("be careful," "be patient") or "have" + abstract noun ("have courage," "have patience").
Siate gentili con la nonna, ha avuto una giornata difficile.
Be kind to grandma, she's had a tough day.
Abbiate pazienza, il dottore è in ritardo.
Have patience, the doctor is running late.
Siate puntuali, l'autobus parte alle sette in punto.
Be on time, the bus leaves at seven sharp.
Clitic attachment: enclitic, written as one word
The voi form follows the affirmative tu/noi/voi rule: clitic pronouns attach to the end of the verb and are written as a single word. This is the same behavior you see with tu (parla → parlami) and noi (parliamo → parliamoci) — the formal Lei/Loro forms behave differently and put clitics in front.
| Bare imperative |
| Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| parlate | parlatemi | talk to me |
| guardate | guardatelo | look at it / him |
| scrivete | scrivetele | write to her |
| dite | ditecelo | tell us about it (combined ce + lo) |
| preoccupatevi | preoccupatevi | worry (reflexive) |
| andate | andatene | go away (lit. "go from there") |
Scrivetemi appena arrivate a Roma.
Write to me as soon as you get to Rome.
Dateglielo prima di uscire, mi raccomando.
Give it to him before you leave, please don't forget.
Alzatevi, sta entrando il preside.
Stand up, the principal is coming in.
Non preoccupatevi, ci penso io.
Don't worry, I'll take care of it.
The reflexive pronoun vi in particular fuses naturally onto the voi form — every reflexive verb in voi imperative looks like alzatevi, sedetevi, accomodatevi, vestitevi, lavatevi. For the full set of attachment rules, see clitic attachment with the imperativo.
Negative voi: just put non in front
Unlike the tu form (which uses non + infinitive in the negative), the voi imperative is regular in the negative — you simply prepend non to the same form you use in the affirmative.
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| Parlate! | Non parlate! |
| Mangiate! | Non mangiate! |
| Venite! | Non venite! |
| Siate cattivi! | Non siate cattivi! |
With clitics in the negative, the modern preference is still to attach them to the end of the verb (parlatemi → non parlatemi), though some speakers also accept them in front (non mi parlate). Both are correct; the postverbal version is more common in the spoken language.
Non parlate tutti insieme, non capisco niente!
Don't all talk at once, I can't understand a thing!
Non mangiate troppo, dopo c'è il dolce.
Don't eat too much, there's dessert afterward.
Non vi preoccupate per il rumore, è normale.
Don't worry about the noise, it's normal.
Non siate timidi, fate domande quando volete.
Don't be shy, ask questions whenever you want.
Voi as historical formal singular
A bit of cultural-linguistic context that explains some things you may encounter in older texts, southern Italian speech, and 20th-century film:
Until the early 20th century, voi was widely used as a respectful singular address — you said voi parlate to a single elder, employer, or stranger, the way French uses vous today. The Fascist regime in the 1930s actively promoted voi as the "Italian" formal pronoun and tried to suppress Lei as a foreign import, which had the predictable backlash effect: after WWII, Lei decisively won out as the standard formal singular and voi retreated to the plural.
You will still hear voi as a singular polite form in much of southern Italy (especially Campania, Sicily, and Calabria), where it carries warm, respectful overtones — children may use it with grandparents, customers with shopkeepers. Outside the south, this usage sounds either old-fashioned or markedly regional. In all national-standard Italian today, voi is plural only.
Voi che dite, signora? (regional / older usage)
What do you say, ma'am? (used as singular polite, mostly in southern Italy)
Lei che dice, signora? (modern standard)
What do you say, ma'am? (modern standard formal singular)
Common mistakes
❌ Voi finiscate i compiti!
Incorrect — the voi form does not take the -isco infix; it is regular finite.
✅ Finite i compiti!
Correct — voi imperative of finire is just finite, identical to the indicativo.
❌ Non parlatare!
Incorrect — the voi negative is not formed with the infinitive (that is the tu rule, not voi).
✅ Non parlate!
Correct — voi negative is just non + the same form as the affirmative.
❌ Voi siete gentili con la nonna! (as a command)
Incorrect — siete is the indicativo (you are kind); the imperative borrows from the subjunctive: siate.
✅ Siate gentili con la nonna!
Correct — be kind to grandma.
❌ Scrivete mi appena arrivate.
Incorrect — the clitic must be written attached, with no space: scrivetemi.
✅ Scrivetemi appena arrivate.
Correct — clitic enclitic on the voi form, written as one word.
❌ Voi parla piano!
Incorrect — that is the tu form. With voi, you must use the voi ending.
✅ Parlate piano!
Correct — addressing two or more people requires the voi form.
Key takeaways
The voi imperative is the easiest of the lot: identical to the voi presente indicativo for every verb except essere (siate) and avere (abbiate). Negate with non in front; attach clitics to the end as one word. This single form covers every plural command in modern Italian, regardless of whether the people you are addressing are friends, strangers, or dignitaries — the formal-plural Loro form is now confined to a few highly formal niches and is not part of everyday speech.
Once voi is solid, the only remaining piece of the basic imperative system is the noi form (the "let's…" command). For the consolidated paradigm of all five persons across the most common verbs, see the complete imperative reference.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- L'Imperativo: OverviewA2 — How Italian gives commands: the five-person imperative system, the strange asymmetry between affirmative and negative, and the borrowing of the formal forms from the subjunctive.
- Imperativo: Tu Form (Informal Singular)A2 — How to give commands to one person you address informally — including the truncated va', da', di', fa', sta' forms and the consonant doubling they trigger with clitics.
- Imperativo: Noi Form (Let's)A2 — How Italian expresses 'let's go!' with a single conjugated form — the noi imperative, identical to the presente indicativo, with clitics that attach to the end.
- Imperativo: Loro Form (Formal Plural)B1 — The Loro imperative — the formal plural command form, borrowed from the present subjunctive, now reduced to a few highly formal contexts and a handful of fossil expressions.
- Imperativo: Clitic Attachment RulesA2 — The four rules that govern where clitic pronouns go with the imperativo — including the famous consonant-doubling trick of dammi, fammi, dimmi, vacci.
- Imperativo: Complete ReferenceA2 — The full imperative paradigm for the most-used Italian verbs across all five persons, with the doubling rule, the negation rules, and the politeness ladder collected in one place.