Grammatica - loco

11
Verbs
238
11.10
11.10.1
The imperative mood
De gebiedende wijs
As the imperative is an order or command form addressed to another person
or persons, there is a jij, jullie and u form. It is common to put an
exclamation mark after a command in Dutch if the sentence is relatively
short:
werk!
werken jullie! work
werkt u!
The form derived from the simple stem can actually be used for all persons
whether singular of plural, familiar or polite:
Kom binnen en ga zitten!
Come in and sit down.
Ontsteek uw lichten! (traffic sign)
Turn your headlights on.
The u form is used only when being particularly polite:
Komt u binnen en gaat u zitten!
The simple stem can sound a little harsh and it is often softened by the
use of the adverbs eens or even (or both, see 10.8) which add the connotation
of ‘would you mind’ or ‘please’, but alsjeblieft/alstublieft can also used in
combination with imperatives, with or without eens and/or even. In natural
speech eens is nearly always pronounced ’s:
Geef me eens je boek!
Give me your book.
Doe het raam eens even dicht!
Shut the window.
Lees dat eens even voor, alsjeblieft. 29
Please read that out.
29 Note that you can never start a sentence with alsjeblieft, unlike English ‘please’. It
either stands at the end of the clause or in the middle, e.g. Lees dat alsjeblieft eens even
voor.