The Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands. It functions in Urdu in the same way as the similar form functions in English. There are several forms of the imperative mood.

The imperative singular is the same in form as the verbal stem:

پڑھ

paRh 'Read!' (literally: 'read thou')

The imperative plural is formed by adding the suffix -o to the verbal stem:

پڑھو

paRho 'Read!' (literally: 'read ye')

The imperative forms that end in -o for the verbs دینا denaa 'to give' and لینا lenaa 'to take' are دو do and لو lo 'respectively'.

The polite form of the imperative is formed by adding the suffix (ئے (یے-iye to the verbal stem:

پڑھیے

paRhiye 'Please read!'

There are also two other imperative forms. One form is identical to the infinitive. The other is the super-polite form, which ends in ئیگا -iyegaa:

پڑھنا

paRhnaa 'read!'

پڑھئیگا

paRhiyegaa 'will you be so kind as to read'

Several verbs have irregularly formed polite and super-polite imperatives:

کرنا

karnaa 'to do'

کیجیے

kiijiye 'Please do!'

کیجئیگا

kiijiyegaa 'will you be so kind as to do'

پینا

piinaa 'to drink'

پیجئے

piijiye 'Please drink!'

پیجئیگا

piijiyegaa 'will you be so kind as to drink'

لینا

lenaa 'to take'

لیجیے

liijiye 'Please take!'

لیجئیگا

liijiyegaa 'will you be so kind as to take'

دینا

denaa 'to give'

دیجیے

diijiye 'Please give!'

دیجئیگا

diijiyegaa 'will you be so kind as to give'

The negative particle used with the imperative forms that end in نا -naa, (ئے (یے -iye, and ئیگا -iyegaa is not نہیں nahiiN but نہ na. This particle is also used with the verbs in the subjunctive mood and the conditional mood, and is usually placed before the verbal form:

یہ کتاب نہ پڑھنا

yah kitaab na paRhnaa

'Don't read this book'

یہ کتاب نہ پڑھیے

yah kitaab na paRhiye

'Please, don't read this book!'

یہ کتاب نہ پڑھئیگا

yah kitaab na paRhiyegaa

'Will you be so kind as to not read this book!'

The imperatives that end in و -o and the imperatives that are the same as the verbal stem require the negative particle مت mat. This particle is also called the prohibitive.

مت پڑھ

mat paRh 'Don't read!'

مت پڑھو

mat paRho 'Don't read!'

Sometimes this particle may follow the verb:

پڑھو مت

paRho mat 'Don't read!'