Questions & Answers about Lesen Sie Seite zehn!
Why does the verb Lesen come at the very beginning of the sentence?
In German commands (the imperative mood), the verb moves to the first position. Instead of the regular statement Sie lesen (You are reading), you swap the order to Lesen Sie! to make it a command.
Why do we need to include Sie? In English, we just say "Read!"
When you give a formal command in German, you must always include the formal "you" pronoun, Sie. Unlike English commands where the "you" is almost always left out, dropping Sie here would be grammatically incorrect in German.
If I am telling a group of my friends to read page ten, would I still use Lesen Sie?
No, Lesen Sie is only for formal situations (like a teacher speaking to adults). If you are giving a command to a group of friends or children, you use the informal plural (ihr) form. The command would be Lest Seite zehn! Notice that with this informal plural form, we actually do drop the pronoun.
How can I be sure Sie here means the formal "you" and not "they"?
First, the capital "S" is a dead giveaway for the formal "you" in written German. Second, the word order tells you what's happening. A command using the formal "you" is always structured as Verb + Sie. You can't give a direct command to "they"!