

What is imperative mood?



Imperative mood is mood that signals directive modality, especially in commands. Its use may be extended to signal permission.


An imperative verb is typically not inflected for most of the grammatical categories associated with verbs in a language, especially tense and person.

Example (English)

Here is an example of a construction indicating imperative mood:

  • Come in!
  • Source:

    Palmer 1986 108

  • Kind
      Here is a kind of imperative mood:
      Imperative mood is a kind of

    Hartmann and Stork 1972 108


    Chung and Timberlake 1985 247


    Bybee 1985 171


    Palmer 1986 29, 97, 108, 111


    Mish 1991 603


    Crystal 1980 153


    Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 78, 803

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    Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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