Imperative

There are two imperative forms in Russian, the тІ form and the вІ form. The вІ form is built by adding -те to the тІ form:

If the verb is a -ся verb then in the вІ form -ся becomes -сь, as always after a vowel:

In the remainder of this section when we say imperative we mean the тІ-imperative

The Imperative Stem.

The imperative stem is the same as the non-past stem. Recall that the non-past stem always ends in a consonant. If this consonant is Й then the imperative is identical to the non-past stem:

If the non-past stem ends in a consonant other than Й, then there are three possibilities:

• imperative = non-past stem + Ќ (Stressed ending Ќ is added.)
• imperative = non-past stem + Ь (The last consonant becomes soft if it can be.)
• imperative = non-past stem + И (Unstressed ending И is added.)

The choice among these possibilities depends on the pattern of stress, and on whether the stem ends in one consonant or in a cluster of two or more consonants. As you know (if you don't, read the section on stress), there are three possible patterns of stress in the non-past: on the ending throughout (E stress), moving from the ending in the 1st person singular to the preceding syllable in the rest of the forms (M stress), and on the stem throughout (S stress).

• If the stress is on the ending or moving then the imperative = the non-past stem + Ќ. In other words, the imperative has a stressed ending if and only if the first person singular non-past has a stressed ending:

• If the stress is on the stem and the stem ends in one consonant, then
  the imperative = the non-past stem + Ь:

An exception is the verb лљчь lie down лїгу лїгут, whose imperative does not end in -ь: лїг. The combination гь is impossible in Russian.

In the examples above the soft sign at the end of the imperative means that the last consonant of the stem becomes soft. The soft sign appears in spelling even when it has no meaning at all: after the hushing consonants ч, ж, ш:

• If the stress is on the stem but the stem ends in more than one consonant
  then the imperative = the non-past stem + и (unstressed):

Other imperatives

• The stems ДА-ВАЙ, -СТА-ВАЙ, -ЗНА-ВАЙ (see Section 9.1) preserve the suffix in the imperative even though it is dropped in all the non-past forms:

• The five stems that conjugate like пќть пьєт have the vowel Е inserted in the Imperative:

• Perfective verbs with the prefix вІ- are, as you know, always stressed on the prefix. However, in figuring out the form of the infinitive this obligatory stress on вІ- does not count: you have to look at a verb with a different prefix. If the other verb has a stressed ending (and, therefore, its imperative ends in И), then the imperative of the verb with вІ- also ends in И even though the ending is unstressed. Compare the verbs рассказђть ‘tell’ and вІсказать ‘voice’:

Another example: купќть ‘buy’ and вІкупить ‘ransom, redeem’.

Sometimes unstressed И is added even to those вІ- verbs that, without the prefix, are stem-stressed. Such verbs have two alternative forms of the imperative:

The verb вІнуть ‘take out’ has no related verb without вІ-. You simply have to remember that its imperative is вІнь.

• The following verbs have irregular imperatives:

• All the prefixed verbs of the form prefix + љхать have imperatives of the form prefix + езжђй: