What are Imperative Verbs?

What is an imperative verb?

If you're looking for an imperative verb definition, then you're in the right place. A verb is a 'doing word', and an imperative verb is one that tells someone to do something.

An imperative verb stands alone in a grammatical phrase without a subject noun or pronoun.

Using an imperative verb will turn a sentence into an order or command. For this reason, imperative verbs are sometimes called command verbs.

They are most often found at the start of sentences and are commonly referred to as 'bossy verbs' due to their appearance in commands. This term is an especially memorable way to teach primary students about this kind of verb.

Read on to unpack the meaning of imperative verbs, examples of where you might find them, and how they are taught in school.

Take a look at the following command verbs list to think about the various ways that you could use these words in practice.

Why do we use command verbs?

Imperative verbs are a direct way of requesting something from the person that we are talking to. They are particularly useful for relaying complex information in a short space of time. As the action typically comes at the top of the sentence, the core point that we are making is clear right away.

These words are especially common in instructions, guides, directions and in teaching because of this

Examples of imperative verbs

As imperative verbs appear in commands, these are usually very short and snappy sentences that are acted upon immediately. This is because when we read instructions, we want them to be simple and straight to the point.

When reading an imperative sentence, it will always sound like the speaker is bossing someone around. Imperative verbs don't leave room for questions or discussion, even if the sentence has a polite tone. Imperative sentences seek to get the job done, looking for the person to act, not to question the speaker.

You might find imperative verbs in recipes, instruction manuals, and SATNAV systems.

Here are some common command verb examples that children may encounter at school and at home:

Home

• "Tidy your room!"
• "Bake at 200 degrees."
• "Wash the dishes."
  
  

School

• "Throw the ball to another person."
• "Stop what you are doing."
• "Colour within the lines!"

These command verb examples all demonstrate how command verbs often appear within a sentence. They are used at the start of an instruction, to make it clear what is being asked of the person who is being spoken to. Whether it's written down in an instruction manual, or told directly in person, these verbs are a quick and helpful way to convey information.

A handy command verbs list:

Sometimes, the best way to learn about imperative verbs is to learn through example. Here are some handy command verbs that have been chosen because of the varied situations they represent:

• Try again
• Play nicely
• Don’t worry
• Turn left
• Ask a friend
• Look both ways
• Finish your work
• Speak up
• Eat your dinner
• Say thank you

For a fun classroom activity, have your students pick from this command verbs list, and write their own sentences with them. This will help them get into the habit of using command verbs, while scaffolding their understanding of the term.

How might I teach command verbs in the classroom?

If you're looking to organise a lesson on command verbs, but you're not sure where to start, we've got you covered. Read on for some easy-to-use classroom ideas, to help support teaching and learning on this topic.

Command verb hunt

This is a great activity to instigate in the classroom or at home, as it requires minimal resources. All you need is a book, a magazine, or even an online article! For the purpose of this explanation, we're going to imagine the game is being done with books.

Instruct your children to get their reading books, and then give them two and a half minutes to find as many command verbs as they can in the text. This gives them a great chance to see how they're used in real life, as well as giving them an opportunity to practise identifying them. Once the time is up, they'll have a great word bank that they can draw on for future tasks too!

You could even do this with a variety of different texts that typically contain command verbs. Divide your class up into groups, and give one group a recipe, or another an instruction manual. This helps them to see how different text types use command verbs.

Simon Says

Simon Says is a great game, as it uses so many command verbs. To start with, you can be Simon, and instruct children to do different things, such as 'Simon says pat your back'. As always, if you don't use the precursor 'Simon says', they shouldn't do the action!

After this, different children can take it in turns to be Simon. This gives them an opportunity to use command verbs verbally themselves.

Bingo

This can require a little more planning, but you could draw on the bank of command verbs created in the verb hunt activity to help you out. Create a series of bingo sheets, with each having a different selection of command verbs on them, and hand them out to your children.

Then, start barking out instructions! If a child recognises the command verb in the sentence on their card, they can cross it off. For an added educational angle, see if they can use it in a different sentence of their own. The child who crosses off all their command verbs first is the winner.

More resources to help teach command verbs

An effective way to improve your children's skill in using imperative verbs is by issuing them instruction texts to complete. This could take the form of recipe tasks or 'bossy words' worksheets.

Teachers can try using this fantastic activity pack for lots of great ideas on how to introduce and consolidate imperative verbs to children.
In it, they will find games, quizzes and other brilliant informative content!

Alternatively, they can try interactive activity PowerPoints to get the whole class involved with the topic or decorate their classroom with topical display posters to remind children day-to-day of the relevance of imperative verbs.

There are plenty of resources that you can use to teach a lesson on command verbs and their examples. By building on this teaching, children will be able to strengthen their vocabulary as well as their understanding of word classes.

Let's end with a video...

For a fun way to round off your understanding of this topic, watch this video from Ashley over on the Twinkl YouTube channel. It's all about learning and using command verbs. It even features a practical command verbs list that you can use to support your students: