The plain imperative — 書（か）け, 食（た）べろ, しろ, 来（こ）い — is the rawest command Japanese has: no politeness, no cushioning, just "do it." You will rarely speak it to another adult, but you must be able to read and recognise it, because it fills warning signs (止（と）まれ), coaching (走（はし）れ！), quoted orders, cheers (頑張（がんば）れ！), and every angry moment in every drama you'll ever watch. This page gives the whole affirmative-and-negative command system in one table, and untangles the two different な that hang off the end of verbs.
The command table
書く is the anchor. Read across each row for how the same operation lands on 食べる, する, and 来る.
| Verb | Class | Rule | Imperative | Prohibitive (＋な) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 書く | 五段 | shift to え-row | 書け | 書くな |
| 話す | 五段 | → せ | 話せ | 話すな |
| 行く | 五段 | → け | 行け | 行くな |
| 取る | 五段 | → れ | 取れ | 取るな |
| 食べる | 一段 | ＋ ろ／よ | 食べろ／食べよ | 食べるな |
| 見る | 一段 | ＋ ろ／よ | 見ろ／見よ | 見るな |
| する | irregular | suppletive | しろ／せよ | するな |
| 来る | irregular | suppletive | 来い（こい） | 来るな（くるな） |
| くれる | irregular | drops ろ | くれ | くれるな |
Three things to lock in from the table. First, 五段 shifts one vowel row to え — the exact same え-row stem that feeds the ば-conditional, so 書け does double duty. Second, 一段 has two endings: 食べろ is the everyday spoken command; 食べよ is written, formal, and literary (you meet it in exam instructions and old text). Third, the two irregulars are memory items — 来い is こい (not ×来ろ), and する is しろ in speech but せよ in writing.
もう少しだ、頑張れ！
mō sukoshi da, ganbare!
Almost there — hang in there!
早くしろ、遅刻するぞ。
hayaku shiro, chikoku suru zo
Hurry up, you'll be late.
危ないから、こっちに来い。
abunai kara, kocchi ni koi
It's dangerous, so come over here.
くれる is the one irregular imperative you'll actually say
You genuinely use one bare imperative constantly: くれ, the command form of くれる ("give me / do for me"). It's irregular — it drops the whole ろ and ends in くれ — and stacked onto a te-form it becomes the casual "do it for me" that peppers real speech: 手伝（てつだ）ってくれ, 待（ま）っててくれ. Its polite twin is ください. The full story is on the くれる imperative page.
悪いけど、ちょっとこれ手伝ってくれ。
warui kedo, chotto kore tetsudatte kure
Sorry, but give me a hand with this for a sec.
The prohibitive: dictionary form ＋ な
To say "don't do X," add な to the dictionary form: 行く → 行くな ("don't go"), 見る → 見るな ("don't look"), する → するな. It's exactly as blunt as the affirmative imperative, which is why it dominates warning signs and terse orders.
危ない、それに触るな！
abunai, sore ni sawaru na!
Careful — don't touch that!
芝生に入るな、と看板に書いてある。
shibafu ni hairu na, to kanban ni kaite aru
The sign says 'keep off the grass.'
The two な attach to different bases
Here is the point that catches every learner, and it hides in one syllable. There are two completely different な:
- Prohibitive な — attaches to the dictionary form (終止形): 食べる → 食べるな = "don't eat."
- Softening な — attaches to the ます-stem (連用形): 食べ → 食べな = a gentle "eat / go ahead and eat," a friendly shortening of 食べなさい.
Same syllable, opposite meanings, and the only signal is which base it sits on. 食べるな bristles; 食べな coaxes. Compare the shapes directly:
| Verb | Prohibitive (dictionary ＋ な) | Softening (ます-stem ＋ な) |
|---|---|---|
| 食べる | 食べるな — "don't eat" | 食べな — "go on, eat" |
| 飲む | 飲むな — "don't drink" | 飲みな — "have a drink" |
| 休む | 休むな — "don't rest / no slacking" | 休みな — "get some rest" |
| 行く | 行くな — "don't go" | 行きな — "off you go" |
The softening な is warm and casual (informal) — a parent to a child, a friend urging you on. The prohibitive な is a hard "no." Because they land on different bases, a 五段 verb makes them audibly distinct (飲むな vs 飲みな), but the contrast is the base, not the vowel: the softening one is 食べなさい with its tail bitten off.
ここに座って、少し休みなよ。
koko ni suwatte, sukoshi yasumina yo
Sit here and take a little rest.
野菜もちゃんと食べな、大きくなれないよ。
yasai mo chanto tabena, ōkiku narenai yo
Eat your vegetables too, or you won't grow big.
なさい and せよ/よ: the labelled registers
The full imperative register scale, from harshest to gentlest:
- 書け / 食べろ / しろ / するな — bare imperative and prohibitive: blunt, rough, often male, used in anger, coaching, and quoted orders (informal).
- 書け / 答えよ in the よ / せよ shape — written, formal, literary; standard in exam papers and instructions ("次の問いに答えよ" = "answer the following question").
- 食べな / 休みな — softened, casual, affectionate (informal).
- 食べなさい / 寝なさい — firm but polite; a parent or teacher to a child.
- 食べてください — the everyday polite request (see the te-form page).
次の問いに、日本語で答えよ。
tsugi no toi ni, nihongo de kotaeyo
Answer the following question in Japanese. (written/formal 一段 よ)
もう遅いから、早く寝なさい。
mō osoi kara, hayaku nenasai
It's late, so go to bed. (parent to child)
静かにしろ、と先生に怒られた。
shizuka ni shiro, to sensei ni okorareta
'Be quiet,' the teacher snapped at me. (quoted imperative)
For English speakers: the danger is that it feels normal
English has exactly one imperative — "Sit down," "Don't touch" — and it's socially neutral: you say it to your dog, your kid, and (softened with "please") your boss. That neutrality is a trap. The Japanese 書け / 食べろ / 触るな register is far harsher than the English bare imperative, closer to "SIT." shouted, or a drill sergeant. English speakers reach for it because it looks like the "basic" command form, when in real interaction it's the nuclear option. The everyday equivalent of English "please write this" is 書いてください, not 書け.
Common mistakes
1. Confusing 食べるな with 食べな. The base decides everything: dictionary＋な forbids, ます-stem＋な encourages.
❌ 元気ないね、無理して食べるな。
Wrong if you mean 'go on and eat' — 食べるな is the prohibition 'DON'T eat.' To coax someone to eat, use the ます-stem: 食べな.
✅ 元気ないね、何か食べな。
genki nai ne, nanika tabena
You look down — here, eat something.
2. Regularising 来る to ×来ろ / ×きろ. 来る's imperative is the suppletive 来い (こい). It doesn't follow the 一段 ろ rule.
❌ おい、早くこっちにきろ。
Wrong — 来る is irregular; its imperative is 来い (koi), never ×きろ or ×来ろ.
✅ おい、早くこっちに来い。
oi, hayaku kocchi ni koi
Hey, come over here quick.
3. Adding ろ to a 五段 verb. ろ belongs to 一段. 五段 verbs shift to the え-row instead: 書く → 書け, never ×書きろ.
❌ 名前をここに書きろ。
Wrong — ろ is the 一段 ending. 五段 書く shifts to the え-row: 書け.
✅ 名前をここに書け。
namae o koko ni kake
Write your name here.
4. ×くれろ for くれる. くれる's imperative is the irregular くれ, with no ろ.
❌ ちょっと手を貸してくれろ。
Wrong — くれる is irregular; its imperative drops ろ: くれ.
✅ ちょっと手を貸してくれ。
chotto te o kashite kure
Give me a hand for a second.
Key takeaways
- 五段 imperative = shift to the え-row (書け・話せ・取れ) — the same stem as the ば-conditional.
- 一段 imperative = ＋ ろ (spoken) or よ (written/literary): 食べろ／食べよ.
- Irregulars: する → しろ (spoken) / せよ (written); 来る → 来い（こい）; くれる → くれ.
- Prohibitive = dictionary form ＋ な (行くな "don't go") — just as blunt as the imperative.
- The softening な (食べな "go on, eat") attaches to the ます-stem, not the dictionary form — it's 食べなさい shortened, and its meaning is the opposite of the prohibitive.
- The bare imperative is genuinely rough; use 〜てください or 〜なさい to actually be polite.
Now practice Japanese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Volitional 意向形: Formation TableN4 — The one-shape reference for 'let's / I'll': 五段 walk to the お-row and add う (書く→書こう), 一段 add よう (食べよう), する→しよう, 来る→来よう — plus the polite 〜ましょう and why the volitional is not a future tense.
- くれる: The Irregular Imperative くれN4 — くれる is a perfectly regular 一段 verb in every form but one: its imperative is the truncated くれ, not the ×くれろ the 食べろ rule would predict — the single 一段 verb with an irregular command.
- All Forms, All Classes: Master ChartN4 — The one-sheet everything reference — every major verb form (dictionary through causative-passive, volitional, conditional, imperative) down the side and 書く・食べる・する・来る across the top, so you can verify any form without hunting across pages.