The Imperative Sentence

Learn About It

An imperative sentence gives a command. It usually end with a period, but it may also end with an exclamation point (!).

Commands ask or tell people to do something.

"Please pass the salt." is a command, that does not sound as commanding as, "Get out of my way!" But, both of these sentences are imperatives because they are both asking or telling someone to do something.

Finding the Subject

This may sound strange, but every single command has the same subject! Yikes! How is that even possible?

Well, since commands are always speaking to someone or something (you've got to address them if you're going to ask them to do something), the subject is always the word you.

You may have noticed, the word "you" is not even in a command. Because of this, the subject is actually called you understood, and it is written like this: (you)

This means that the subject is the word you, but since it is not written or spoken in the sentence, it is understood and is therefore in parentheses.

You'll notice that every command has the same subject, (you).

Please find my yellow leotard.

Shut the door!

Be there at 5:00.

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