The Imperative Mood in Grammar

Teachers give directions all the time. They write directions on worksheets, homework, and tests.  Directions by teachers require that students do something.  Parents also demand and guide their children to act in certain ways. When a boss tells employees to do something, this language is called a “directive”.

This language of giving directions uses the imperative mood in English.

An imperative sentence starts with a verb. It is always in present tense, second person.

Math students will hear and read a lot of imperative sentences.

For this section, words will be separated into three different groups.

Group 1: Words and phrases that are only verbs

Group 2: Words that can be verbs or nouns

Group 3: Words that can only be nouns