A godan verb shifts its final sound to the え row; an ichidan verb swaps る for ろ.
Usage Notes
The plain imperative suits urgency, anger, authority, or a speaker pretending to have authority. Between friends, sentence-final よ can soften it: 見ろよ “hey, look”.
The irregular forms are 来い and しろ. The imperative くれ produces the rough request 〜てくれ, “do it for me”.
Formation
View formation details
Godan verb (え-row)
止まれ!
"Stop!"
Ichidan verb + ろ
早く逃げろ!
"Run, now!"
する → しろ、来る → 来い
こっちへ来い
"Come here."
〜てくれ (rough request)
ちょっと待ってくれ
"Give me a second. (Wait, I'm asking you.)"
Note: くれ is the imperative of くれる; it turns a command into a blunt request.
Imperative + よ (softened)
ほら、見ろよ
"Hey, look at that."
〜なさい (gentle command)
早く寝なさい
"Go to bed now."
Note: なさい after the ます-stem is the parental/teacherly command (firm but not rough).
Simple Command
Most commonly, the plain imperative tells someone to do (or not do) something.
Yotsuba and her father have their first breakfast since moving to a new house in a new town. Yotsuba takes a bite from her toast, then drinks down some milk.
よつば:
「こっちの牛乳はうめぇな!!」
“The milk here is good!”
父さん:
「(いっしょだろう…)よつば 今日は遊びに行く時 ちゃんといってきますって言えよ」
“(It tastes the same...) Yotsuba, when you go out to play today, make sure you say "I'm off", okay?”
On their first morning in the new house, Yotsuba’s father sets a rule. 言う becomes 言え in the imperative, and よ softens it a little: “make sure you say ‘I’m off’”.
Example 3 of 11: Preparing by memorizing with 〜ておく
Rize is training Cocoa at the café. 覚えておく, “memorize ahead of time”, shortens to 覚えとく, and its imperative is 覚えとけ. よ makes it sound like advice from a senior.
Example 4 of 11: Congratulations after touching with 〜てから
Chino doesn’t have much luck with animals other than her rabbit Tippy. However, she’s able to successfully touch the always-still rabbit at Chiya’s family’s café.
ココア:
「やったよチノちゃん!おめでとう!!」
“At last, Chino-chan! Congrats!!”
リゼ:
「ちゃんと触ってから祝ってやれよ」
“After she properly touches the rabbit, congratulate her.”
Chino is about to touch the rabbit at Chiya’s tea shop, and Cocoa is already cheering. Rize tells her to wait: 祝ってやれよ, “congratulate her”, but only after Chino actually touches it. やる is a rough “do for someone”, and its imperative is やれ.
Example 5 of 11: Care for not only Lou's face but also her body with 〜だけでなく〜も
Benjamin suggests Louise do push-ups alongside Lou, her “Living Doll”. When Louise tires quickly, Benjamin tells her to care for Lou’s body as well as her face.
ベンジャミン:
「顔だけでなく体も労ってやれ。」
“Take care of not only her face but also her body.”
Benjamin suggests Louise exercise alongside Lou, her Living Doll, and Louise tires fast. 労ってやれ, “take care of it”, ends in the imperative やれ. His next line is the prohibitive 誤るな, “don’t misuse”.
Conan and Ran end up with Kogoro investigating a kidnapping case. As Kogoro questions the butler, Conan steps in with his own questions. The butler asks who the child is.
Kogoro is questioning a butler about a kidnapping, and Conan keeps butting in. Kogoro snaps at Ran: 面倒見てろ!!, “keep an eye on him!” 見てろ is 見ていろ, the imperative of ている, so it’s an order to keep watching.
Example 7 of 11: Thanks for the boxed lunch with サンキュ
Miyu visits Yamato at his police box workplace to bring him a packed lunch. She sees her friend, Yamato’s sister Ran, there and stops by to see her next. A call comes in, and Yamato heads to help provide backup.
Yamato, a police officer, gets a call for backup, and he leaves his sister Ran with an order: まっすぐ家に帰れよ!, “head straight home!” 帰る is godan, so its imperative is 帰れ.
Example 8 of 11: Misunderstanding an incriminating situation with 誤解
Since Hiyori is resting on a bed inside, Junpei takes a plate from the barbecue to her room. As he walks in, he finds Hiyori and Yuushin in what looks like a compromising position.
淳平:
「…お前ら昼間っから (カギかけろよなー)」
“You guys, in the middle of the day… (At least lock the door!)”
結心:
「ち ちがう 誤解だ!!(そい寝だから!!)」
“N—No! You've got it wrong!! (We were just lying down together!)”
Junpei walks in on Hiyori and Yuushin in what looks like a compromising position. His thought in parentheses is カギかけろよなー, “at least lock the door”. かける is ichidan, so its imperative ends in ろ.
Conan has joined the other children for radio exercises at school. As everyone follows the routine, he broods over how he should be enjoying his summer vacation as a second-year high school student. Instead, he is stuck exercising with elementary schoolers and wonders what he is doing there.
元太:
「おい! 真面目にやれよな!」
“Hey! Take this seriously!”
歩美:
「ラジオ体操は大切な夏の風物詩の一つなんだよ!」
“Radio exercises are one of those treasured signs of summer!”
Genta sees Conan going through the radio exercises without enthusiasm and tells him to take them seriously. やる becomes やれ in the imperative, so 真面目にやれ is a direct command to make an effort.
Example 10 of 11: Not letting anyone find out with 〜ないようにしろ
Chinatsu has moved into Taiki’s family’s house. At badminton practice the next day, he’s in high spirits. His friend Kyo is aware of the living arrangement.
匡:
「浮かれんのもわかるけど」
「同居のこと周りにバレないようにしろよ」
“I get why you're walking on air, but...”
“...make sure nobody around here finds out you two live together.”
Kyo knows that Chinatsu has moved in with Taiki’s family, and he warns Taiki to keep it quiet. する is irregular, and its imperative is しろ. バレないようにしろよ is “make sure nobody finds out”, with よ pressing the point.
Example 11 of 11: Making it so you can walk on water with 〜ようにする
During a test of courage in a cave, Sakura’s classmates vanish one by one. Li senses a Clow Card near the shrine by the spring at the end of the cave, and he lights a candle with fire magic so they can see. The bridge across the water to the shrine has burned. Sakura suggests flying over with the Fly card, but Li says they should approach quietly so the card won’t notice them. He chants a spell, and sparkles swirl around both their feet. Then Li steps out onto the water, and Sakura cries out his name.
Li has cast a spell so Sakura can walk on the water too, and he’s already out on it. 早くこい, “hurry up and come on”, is his aside to her. 来る is irregular, and its imperative is こい.
In a game of hide-and-seek, Conan and Ayumi find they’re hiding on the same bench. Their conversation attracts the seeker, Genta, leading him to find Conan. As Ayumi sneaks away unseen, she signals an apology to Conan.
Shin’ichi has caught the fleeing culprit, and a police officer marches him off: さあ、さっさと歩け!!, “come on, hurry up and walk!” 歩く is godan, and its imperative is 歩け.
To allay Haibara’s fears of being recognized at an event, Conan lets her wear his fake glasses as a disguise. After she’s kidnapped, Conan communicates with her through the wireless communication device built into the glasses, in hope of discovering where she’s being held. Once Haibara confirms she cannot escape the room she’s in, she tells Conan to listen carefully and starts listing off the details of her research around the drug that caused the two of them to become children.
コナン:
「おい、やめろ!! んな事おまえがそこから脱出したら聞いて…」
“Hey, stop it!! I'll listen after we get you out of there...”
Haibara has been kidnapped, and Conan is talking to her through the transmitter in his glasses. She starts to tell him something, and he cuts her off with やめろ!!, “stop it!” She snaps back with 〜聞きなさいよ!!. なさい is usually the gentler command, but not here.
Battle Cries
Fights run on imperatives, from taunts to finishing moves.
Kei and Chinatsu watch as their cousin, Makoto, chases a pheasant back and forth across the field. During a break in the chase, Makoto explains her fascination with the bird.
真琴:
「常に届きそうで届かない距離をキープしてて」
“Constantly seeming like you can reach and keeping a distance you can't...”
「捕まえてみろよと言わんばかりの目で見てくるんです」
“It's been looking with eyes as if to say, try and catch me!”
Makoto has been chasing a pheasant across a field, and it always stays just out of reach. She imagines it taunting her: 捕まえてみろよ, “try and catch me”. みる becomes みろ in the classic taunt.
Yotsuba and her father are driving to their new home. As they pass a school letting out, Yotsuba waves to a student. When the student waves back, Yotsuba tells her father to wave too.
よつば:
「おねーちゃんが手ぇふった! とーちゃんもふれ!」
“The girl waved! Daddy, you wave too!”
父さん:
「とーちゃん手がはなせないからな俺の分もよつばがふってくれ」
“Dad's hands are full, so Yotsuba, please wave for me too.”
A member of the kendo club asks Ayumu to join the club, so they can win the next tournament. Although Ayumu is well known for his kendo prowess in middle school, he’s in the shogi club now, and rejects the request.
A kendo club member wants Ayumu on the team, and Ayumu turns him down. 来てくれよな, “come by”, is a friendly てくれ request. よな adds “okay?”, and the next line says he’s always welcome.
While staying in Japan, Sotoka lives alone in the apartment building her parents own. Aru asks if Sotoka isn’t lonely living alone, but Sotoka says it’s all right.
Sotoka lives alone in Japan and says she’ll just go home if things get bad. Nako objects: その前に相談してくれよ, “talk to us before that”. てくれ asks the favor bluntly, and よ presses it.
Conan determines the culprit in a series of murders. However, there’s no one around he can use as a conduit for revealing his reasoning. When Ran scolds Conan for wandering around, he accidentally drops an item Professor Agasa made for him, a wireless phone in the form of a large earring. As Ran picks it up, Conan hides and using his bowtie voice changer to sound like Shin’ichi as he calls Ran on the earring phone. He explains that Conan filled him in on the details.
新一:
「そこで、蘭に頼みがある…」
“So with that, I have a favor to ask of you...”
蘭:
「頼み?」
“A favor?”
新一:
「オレの代わりに事件の真相をみんなに話してくれ!」
“In my place, tell everyone the truth of the situation!”
Conan has solved the case but has no one to speak through, so he calls Ran as Shin’ichi. オレの代わりに事件の真相をみんなに話してくれ! is “tell everyone the truth in my place!” てくれ makes it a rough request between old friends.
Gentle Requests with なさい
This is a softened command, and is used socially downward, such as from a parent to a child or from a teacher to a student.
Yukari doesn’t like carrots, so she offers the ones from her lunch to Mina, who gladly accepts. Mina offers one of her dumplings in return, but Yukari is hesitant to accept because Mina did her a favor by taking the carrots. Sanae takes the opportunity to snatch the dumpling and eat it herself, claiming that neither of the other two seemed to want it. Mina mutters that she never said that.
Sanae snatched the dumpling Mina offered Yukari, and Mina is crushed. Yukari tells Sanae, あやまりなよ, “apologize to her”. 〜な after the verb stem is short for なさい, and よ softens it further.
Signs and Cheers
The imperative also appears impersonally, such as on signs and in cheering.
The girls are baking bread, and Chino’s “grandpa” loaf is rising slower than Cocoa’s and Chiya’s. Chiya cheers it on: おじいちゃんもガンバレー! ガンバレ is the imperative of 頑張る, in katakana and stretched out like a shout from the stands.
Example 2 of 2: Too light-weight to overcome friction with 摩擦
With the end of the school year, the sports clubs turn their attention to cleaning the gym. The boys make a race out of wiping the floor. When the girls decide to give it a go, Hina joins in, but she finds herself unable to move forward like the others do. Her attempts to advance only cause her socks to slip, keeping her in place.
匡:
「体軽すぎて摩擦に負けてるんだろ」
“I guess she's too light to overcome the friction.”
The boys are racing to wipe the gym floor, and Hina can’t get any traction. Nishida shouts encouragement: もっと踏ん張れ!, “dig in harder!” 踏ん張る is godan, so its imperative ends in れ.