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### The Imperative Mood

We use the imperative mood to give direct commands, offer advice, or make strong requests. In this lesson, we will focus on commands given directly to one person (the informal singular "you") and multiple people (the informal plural "you").

### The Singular Imperative

The singular imperative is used when speaking to one person (**ty**). You do not use the pronoun "ty" in the sentence; the verb form itself acts as the command. For many common verbs, the imperative simply ends in **-j**.

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### The Plural Imperative

Commanding a group of people (**wy**) is incredibly simple: just take the singular imperative form and attach the ending **-cie** to it.

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### Consonant Endings and Stem Changes

Not all imperative verbs end in **-j**. Many drop their vowel endings entirely to form the command, ending in a consonant instead. In some cases, this causes slight spelling changes in the root of the word.

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### Negative Commands

To tell someone *not* to do something, just place the word **nie** directly before the imperative verb.

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### Perfective vs. Imperfective Commands

Just like verbs in the past and future tenses, imperative commands come in perfective and imperfective pairs. 

Use a **perfective** imperative when you are asking someone to complete a specific, one-time action. Use an **imperfective** imperative for general rules, ongoing habits, or continuous actions. 

Let's compare the perfective command **weź** (take this specific thing once) with the imperfective command **bierz** (take as a general habit):

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The imperative mood

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

This is (to jest)

The verb to be, singular (być)

Formal address (Pan, Pani)

Demonstrative pronouns (ten, ta, to)

Adjective agreement

Negation (nie)

Basic questions (czy, kto, co, gdzie, jak)

The verb to be, plural (być)

Present tense -m/-sz verbs

Reflexive verbs (się)

Coordinating conjunctions (i, a, ale)

Feminine direct objects (Accusative)

Inanimate direct objects (Accusative)

Animate masculine direct objects (Accusative)

Present tense verbs 2 (-ę, -isz / -ysz)

Expressing location (w, na)

Locative adjective agreement

Professions and nationalities (Instrumental)

Accompaniment (z + Instrumental)

Present tense verbs 3 (-ę, -esz)

Plural possessives (nasz, wasz)

Numbers 1 to 10

Genitive of possession

Genitive of negation

Lack or absence (nie ma)

Basic quantifiers (dużo, mało, trochę)

Liking things (podoba mi się)

Modal verbs (móc, musieć)

Subordinating conjunctions (bo, że)

Unidirectional motion verbs (iść, jechać)

Expressing age (mieć... lat)

Habitual motion (chodzić, jeździć)

Expressing destination (do)

Days of the week (poniedziałek, wtorek...)

Plural nouns for objects and animals

Plural nouns for people

Plural adjective agreement

Accusative object pronouns (go, ją, je...)

The past tense of to be (był)

Singular past tense (-łem, -łam...)

Expressing age (mieć + lata / lat)

Plural past tense (-li / -ły)

Perfective past tense

Future tense (będę + infinitive)

Age: one year (mieć rok)

Prices and currency (złoty, grosz)

Destination (na + accusative)

Non-masculine plurals (-e, -y, -i)

Instrumental pronouns (ze mną, z tobą)

To know (znać vs wiedzieć)

The future perfective tense

Months of the year (styczeń, luty)

Greetings and farewells (dzień dobry, cześć)

Introducing yourself (mam na imię)

Thank you and sorry (dziękuję, przepraszam)

Left, right, up and down (po lewej stronie)

Parts of the body (ręka, noga)

Parts of the day (dzień, noc, południe)

What is it like? (jaki, jaka, jakie)

Speaking Polish (mówić po polsku)

Instrumental for adjectives (dobrym, dobrą)

Please do... (proszę + infinitive)

Interests (interesować się + Instrumental)

Can one? (można, trzeba, nie wolno)

By bus or by train (jechać autobusem)

Where are you from? (jestem z Polski)

Where exactly? (obok, przy, przed, za, pod, nad)

What time is it? (Która godzina?)

Not seeing her (go, jej, ich; niego, niej, nich)

When I have time (kiedy as a conjunction)

Irregular past stems (miał, mieli)

The verb 'iść' in the past (szedł, szli)

Imperfective future (będę odpoczywał)

Past aspect (robił vs zrobił)

Future aspect (będzie malował vs pomaluje)

Perfective motion with po- (pójść, pojechać)

Arrival verbs with przy- (przyjść, przyjechać)

Departure verbs with wy- (wyjść, wyjechać)

The Vocative case (Panie, Mamo)

Plural possessives (moi, moje)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (swój)

Genitive plural of masculine nouns (-ów, -y, -i)

Genitive plural of feminine and neuter nouns

Genitive plural of adjectives (-ych, -ich)

Accusative plural of masculine personal nouns

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Question	Answer
to watch out	uważać
Watch out, this is a very expensive computer!	Uważaj, to jest bardzo drogi komputer!
Watch out, because this dog is not calm!	Uważajcie, bo ten pies nie jest spokojny!
to remember	pamiętać
Remember that he is very tired today.	Pamiętaj, że on jest dzisiaj bardzo zmęczony.
Remember that tomorrow is an important meeting.	Pamiętajcie, że jutro jest ważne spotkanie.
to forget	zapomnieć
Don't forget that I love you!	Nie zapomnij, że cię kocham!
Don't forget, because this is very important!	Nie zapomnijcie, bo to jest bardzo ważne!
to take (perf.)	wziąć
Take my money and go shopping!	Weź moje pieniądze i idź na zakupy!
Take this heavy luggage.	Weźcie ten ciężki bagaż.
medicine	lekarstwo
Take this medicine, because you are sick.	Weź to lekarstwo, bo jesteś chory.
Take this medicine and sleep a lot.	Weźcie to lekarstwo i dużo śpijcie.
Dance with me and don't say anything!	Tańcz ze mną i nic nie mów!
to stop	przestać
Stop talking and listen!	Przestań rozmawiać i słuchaj!
Stop arguing!	Przestańcie się kłócić!
question / asking	pytanie
Read this question, because it is interesting.	Przeczytaj to pytanie, bo jest ciekawe.
to answer	odpowiedzieć
Answer my question!	Odpowiedz na moje pytanie!
Answer him quickly.	Odpowiedzcie mu szybko.
carefully	ostrożnie
Drive carefully, because there is snow!	Jedź ostrożnie, bo jest śnieg!
Open the door carefully.	Otwórzcie drzwi ostrożnie.
to take (imperf.)	brać
Always take the receipt.	Zawsze bierz paragon.
Don't take the car today.	Nie bierzcie dzisiaj samochodu.
to press, to push	naciskać
Don't press that!	Nie naciskaj tego!
Why are you pressing it?	Dlaczego to naciskasz?

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