L'imperativo
When you tell someone to do something — parla! (speak!), mangia! (eat!), vieni qui! (come here!) — you're using the imperativo. Italian splits commands by who you're talking to: informal tu (one friend), formal Lei (a stranger, a boss), plural voi (a group), and rarely noi (let's…). Each gets its own form. The negative is its own twist — for tu, you literally say non + the infinitive: non parlare! = don't speak! Pronouns ride along with the command — attached to the back when it's affirmative, separate when it's negative.
Affirmative TU — your everyday command
For -are verbs, the tu command ends in -a: parlare → parla! (speak!), mangiare → mangia! (eat!), guardare → guarda! (look!). For -ere and -ire verbs, it ends in -i: prendere → prendi! (take!), leggere → leggi! (read!), aprire → apri! (open!), sentire → senti! (listen!). Notice the cross: -are verbs swap to the OPPOSITE vowel from their indicative present (tu parli → parla!), while -ere/-ire verbs keep the same -i as the indicative. There's no pronoun out front: just the verb, and the urgency does the rest.
Negative TU — non + infinitive
Italian's most useful shortcut: to make a tu command negative, use non + the INFINITIVE. non parlare! = don't speak! non mangiare! = don't eat! non venire! = don't come! non aprire la porta! = don't open the door! No conjugation, no surprises — just bolt non onto the dictionary form. This rule applies ONLY to tu. The other forms (Lei, voi, noi) keep their normal command form even after non.
Formal LEI — the polite command
When you're addressing someone formally — a stranger on the street, a waiter, a teacher — you use Lei (capital L for politeness). The form is the OPPOSITE vowel from tu: -are verbs end in -i, -ere/-ire verbs end in -a. parlare → Mi parli! (speak to me!). scusare → Mi scusi! = excuse me! sentire → Mi senta! = listen to me! / look here! prendere → Prenda! = take it! Same form is used for negative: Non parli! = don't speak (sir/madam)! For voi (talking to a group), use the indicative present: parlate!, mangiate!, prendete! — same as 'you all speak / eat / take'.
Pronouns: attached when affirmative, free when negative
Direct, indirect, and reflexive pronouns (lessons 13–14, 21) all stick to the imperative. Affirmative tu: pronoun glues to the BACK as one word. Parlami! = talk to me! (parla + mi). Dimmi! = tell me! (di' + mi → double m). Alzati! = get up! (alza + ti). Dammelo! = give it to me! (da' + me + lo). Negative tu: pronoun goes BEFORE the infinitive, OR attaches to its end — both are correct. Non mi parlare! OR Non parlarmi! Same meaning. With formal Lei, pronouns ALWAYS go before, affirmative or negative: Mi dica! = tell me! (sir/ma'am), Si accomodi! = make yourself comfortable!, Non si preoccupi! = don't worry!
Five short irregular tu commands
Five common verbs have a clipped tu form, often written with an apostrophe: dire → di' (say!), fare → fa' (do!/make!), andare → va' (go!), stare → sta' (stay!), dare → da' (give!). The apostrophe shows the missing letter. Essere and avere in tu are sii and abbi, but you'll mostly meet them in fixed phrases: abbi pazienza = have patience, sii buono = be good. When a pronoun attaches to one of the apostrophe forms, the consonant DOUBLES: dimmi (di' + mi), fammi vedere (fa' + mi), dammelo (da' + me + lo), vacci (va' + ci → go there!). The only exception is gli: digli = tell him (no doubling).
