Introduction
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Chapter 18:  Verbs of Motion >>


Chapter 17

The Imperative

17.1        Formation of the imperative

    In the case of the vast majority of Belarusian verbs, the imperative is formed as follows.  Conjugate the verb for the 2nd person singular and remove the final two letters.  If the stem ends in a vowel, add an -й.  If the stem ends in an invariably non-palatized consonant, nothing is added, otherwise add either an -і or a -ь.  The ending –і is added either if the infinitive is more than one syllable and the accent falls on the last syllable, or if the root ends in two or more consonants (note that the letter combinations дз and дж are each treated as a single letter).  If neither of these two conditions is met, then a -ь is added.  This forms the singular form of the imperative.  To form the plural imperative, the suffix -це is appended to the singular form.

infin.
2nd Pers. Sing.
 Stem
 Imp. Sing.
 Imp. Pl.
браць to take
 бярэш
 бяр-
 бяры
 бярыце
глядзець
 to look
 глядзіш
 глядз-
 глядзі
 глядзіце
глянуць
 to glance
 гляніш
 глян-
 глянь
 гляньце
жыць
 to live
 жывеш
 жыв-
 жыві
 жывіце
легчы
 to lie down
 ляжеш
 ляж-
 ляж
 ляжце
мыць
 to wash
 мыеш
 мы-
 мый
 мыйце
ехаць
 to drive
 едзеш
 едз-
 едзь
 едзьце
рабіць
 to do
 робіш
 роб-
 рабі
 рабіце
рэзаць
 to slice
 рэжаш
 рэж-
 рэж
 рэжце
сячы
 to cut up
 сячэш
 сяч-
 сячы
 сячыце
стаць
 to become
 станеш
 стан-
 стань
 станьце
стукнуць
 to knock
 стукнеш
 стукн-
 стукні
 стукніце
чакаць
 to wait
 чакаеш
 чака-
 чакай
 чакайце


17.2        Vowel changes due to spelling rules

    There are several verbs, which seem to be irregular, but the changes of their vowels are really just manifestions of spelling rules.

баяцца
 to fear
 баішся
 бо-
 бойся
 бойцеся
смяяцца
 to dare
 смяешся
 сме-
 смейся
 смейцеся
стаяць
 to stand
 стаіш
 сто-
 стой
 стойце


17.3        Verbs beginning with вы-

    If imperative form of verb ends in an -і (or -ы due to spelling rules) the verb formed by adding the prefix вы- to the verb also has an imperative that ends in -і, even though the accent will fall on the prefix.

Infin.
Imp. Sing.
 Infin.
Imp. Sing.
весці
 to lead
 вядзі
 вывесці
 to lead away
 выведзі
казаць
 to say
 кажы
 выказаць
 to state something
 выкажы
рваць
 to tear
 рві
 вырваць
 to tear away
 вырві


17.4        Irregular imperatives

    Certain verbs have irregular imperatives.  A few of these are given below.

Infin.
2nd Pers. Sing.
 Imp. Sing.
 Imp. Pl.
даваць
 to give
 даеш
 давай
 давайце
даць
 to give (Perf.)
 дасі
 дай
 дайце
есці
 to eat
 еш
 еш
 ешце





біць
 to hit
 б'еш
 бі
 біце
ліць
 to pour
 льеш
 лі
 ліце
піць
 to drink
 пьеш
 пі
 піце


17.5        1st person plural imperative

    The most common way of forming the 1st person plural imperative is by using the word давайце.  If the verb is imperfective, давайце is followed by the verb’s infinitive.  If the verb is perfective, the word давайце is followed by the verb conjugated for the 1st person plural.

Давайце яшчэ нальём.
 Let's pour in some more.
Давайце крычаць: хто слабей крыкне, таго зьядзём.
 Let's yell:  Whoever yells the weakest, him we will eat.

   
    Alternatively, verbs do have a special form for the 1st person plural imperative.

Бярэм манаткі і марш!
 Let's grab our gear and move out!
Уцякайма, пакуль не позна.
 Let's get out of here, while it's not to late.
Едзем на базар, каб купіць ежу на заўтра.
 Let's go to the market to buy food for tomorrow.

    If the 2nd person singular imperative ends in -й, the 1st person plural imperative is formed by adding the letters -ма to the end of the imperative.

Infin.
Imp. Sing.
 1st Pers. Pl. Imp.
будаваць
 to wait
 будуй
 будуйма
мыцца
 to wash oneself
 мыйся
 мыймася
чытаць
 to read
 чытай
 чытайма


    If the 2nd person singular imperative ends in an accented -ы or -і, the 1st person plural imperative is formed by replacing that final letter with -эм or -ем respectively.

бегчы
 to run
 бяжы
 бяжэм
брацца
 to wrap around something
 бярыся
 бярэмся
крычаць
 to yell
 крычы
 крычэм




сарваць
 to tear (Perf.)
 сарві
 сарвем
спаць
 to sleep
 спі
 спем
хадзіць
 to walk
 хадзі
 хадзем


    Otherwise, the 1st person plural imperative is identical to the 1st person plural indicative form.

быць
 to be
 будзь
 будзем
сесці
 to sit down (Perf.)
 сядзь
 сядзем
легчы
 to lie down (Perf.)
 ляж
 ляжам


17.6        3rd person imperative

    The third person imperative is formed by placing either the particle хай or няхай before the verb, conjugated for the third person, either singular or plural.


Хай гаворыць.
 Let him speak.
Не чапай, хай ляжыць.
 Don't disturb him, let him lie.
Хай будзе святло.
 Let there be light.


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Chapter 18:  Verbs of Motion >>

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Copyright (c)  2004  Christian Cardell Marchant.
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