Teaching The Imperative

1.-Warm up

It has probably been a long time since your students played Simon Says so give them a
review of body parts while practicing the imperative form by playing this game. Rather
than have only one person give instructions, have students stand in a circle and take turns
being Simon. This way when you give your introduction, students will have already had
some practice using the imperative structure.

2.-Introduce

Introduce the imperative form using both positive and negative examples. Please, stand
up. would be a positive form that students should be familiar with from class while the
negative Dont text in class is hopefully not needed very often. Elicit other imperative
sentences from your students and write down further examples of your own. Explain that
this structure is used when giving directions and orders and give students some speaking
practice by having them read the sentences you have written on the board aloud.

3.-Practice

Have students match images with sentences. The images should depict either scenarios
or actions where use of an imperative sentence would be appropriate. A good example
would be to match the universal no smoking sign with the sentence Dont smoke. You
can also have students complete a fill in the blank exercise where the missing words are
listed for them to choose from. Check the answers as a class and review why certain
choices were correct by asking questions about the images or sentences.

4.-Discuss

Students have already been given many examples and completed a worksheet so they
should have a good idea of when to use the imperative. At this point, talk about being
polite while still giving orders and lead by example using please when giving instructions to
your students. Discuss situations where use of the imperative form would be appropriate.
Shouting for someone to Stop! if he is about to cross the street when a car is coming
would be fine. On the other hand, if someone is simply making lots of noise or distracting
you, shouting Stop! would be considered impolite. Tell students that directions in the
form of a recipe or an instructional manual would also commonly use the imperative form.

5.- Practice

Prepare passages which include several imperative sentences and write the individual
sentences on strips of paper. These can be conversations, sets of instructions, or recipes.
A conversation could start off like this Be quiet! I think I hear something. Come here. I
heard it again! Listen carefully. Have students work in groups. Each group should be
given the strips of paper to complete one passage and work together to place sentences
in the correct order. Since each group has a different passage, it may be fun to have
students share them with the class when the activity has been completed.

6.- Produce

Directions lessons will give students lots of practice using the imperative. At this time,
instead of practicing giving directions, focus on cooking vocabulary and recipes instead.
Have students write recipes for their favorite dishes using the imperative form. They
can practice reading the instructions as well but it may be necessary to make corrections
before asking students to read their recipes aloud. In order to challenge students, you
may have to specify how many sentences are required to complete this activity. Giving
students an example on the board, will help them immensely. Encourage students to ask
you questions as you move around the class monitoring their progress.

7.-Review

Ask for volunteers to give you imperative sentences. Once a student has volunteered, he
can sit down while the rest of the class thinks of sentences. Continue this activity until
all the students are seated or the bell rings and do not accept duplicate sentences.

The imperative form is something students will have a lot of practice with especially when
studying directions. Ensuring that students understand this structure now will make
future classes much easier for both you and them.

View Imperative Worksheets section on Busyteacher.org.

How do you teach Imperatives? Please share in the comments!








In any language, a person must give and follow directions whether it is in a cab, when
explaining a process, or giving instructions.
The following activities will give your ESL students an opportunity to practice using the
imperative form in English.

F - Following and Giving Directions
1
What is the Imperative?

In English, the imperative form is the command form of a sentence. The imperative is
most often used when giving directions or giving instructions. Do your homework. Study
for the test. Pay attention in class. All these are imperative sentences. Forming the
imperative is very simple. Verb conjugations follow the normal pattern, but the subject of
the sentence (you) is dropped. You do your homework becomes do your homework. For
negative sentences, do not is added to before the verb. Do not sleep in class. Do not hit
your brother. Often, sentences in the imperative can seem very forceful and often rude,
so point out to your students that the use of please will soften the feeling of an
imperative sentence. Please pass out the papers will sound more courteous than Pass
out the papers. If the intention is a forceful sentence, your students may want to use an
exclamation point rather than a period at the end of the sentence.

2
Rules to Live By

If your classroom has rules, start your lesson on the imperative by reviewing those
classroom rules. Make sure each of them is written in the imperative. Raise your hand
before you speak. Be courteous to other students. Point out to your students that these
rules have an implied subject (you) but that it is omitted in the sentence. These rules are
wishes for behavior in the classroom. Encourage your students to think creatively about
wishes or rules they would like to see people follow. They can be rules for school or rules
for life. They may want to have rules such as Be kind to someone every day. Smile when
you pass people in the street. Whatever they are, have your students make a list of five
rules they want people to follow in life. Then encourage your students creativity by
letting each student create a poster with his or her life rules. If you assign this as
homework, students can purchase their own poster board, but if you want to spend time
in class creating the posters simply use butcher paper or bulletin board paper. Once your
students have finished their posters, display them around your classroom or in the
hallway. Perhaps the life rules will encourage your students to behave kindly to one
another.

3
A Little Help Please

If you are looking for a fun way to practice the imperative with your students, take them
outside for a little excitement with this directional game. Before starting the game,
spend a little time reviewing directional words with your students. Make sure they
understand right, left, turn, go straight, turn around and any other directional words you
can think of. Then divide your students into pairs, and take them outside to an open play
area. Have one person in each pair put on a blindfold. This person will be the mover. The
other person in the pair will be the direction giver. Once each pair has one person
blindfolded, place an object at the other end of the playing area. The direction giver
must then shout directions to the mover who will proceed to the object and retrieve it.
All of the pairs give directions at the same time, so the mover must focus on his partners
voice. The first mover who reaches the object wins that round. Then have the pairs
switch roles and place the object in another area. Award points to the team who reaches
the object first in each round. Play as many rounds as you like and award a prize to the
winning team.

4
The Hostess with the Mostess

English speakers also use the imperative when politely offering something to a guest.
Have a slice of pie. Have a cup of tea. A little role playing is a fun way to practice this
form of imperative. Put your students into groups of four to act out a dinner party. Two
of the students will be the hosts and the other two will be the guests. In front of the
class if possible, have the students act out a polite dinner party where the hosts offer
different options to their guests. They can offer drinks, food and desserts. The guests
can accept or politely decline. Then reverse roles and have the guests be the hosts.
Encourage your students to use their imaginations and use the imperative as much as
possible. Depending on the creativity (and attitude) of your students, this activity can be
quite entertaining, and the rest of the class will take inspiration from the previous groups
making their own demonstrations even more entertaining.

5
Always True

For imperatives that are universally true, have your students begin their imperative
statements with always and never. Never put your finger in an electrical socket. Always
bring your passport when you travel to another country. To practice this structure with
your students, cultural norms are the perfect context. As a class, start a discussion
about the culture shock they felt when they first arrived in their host country. What did
people do that your students did not expect? What did people not do when your students
expected them? After each of your students has been able to share from her
experiences, have each person make a list of universally true imperatives for someone
visiting their home countries and then explain why those imperatives are true. In the
U.S., these imperatives might include Never ask a woman her age. Never tell someone
she looks fat. These statements are offensive. They may write Never give white
flowers to your host. White flowers represent death. Or Always bring a gift when you
go to a business meeting. It is considered polite. After all your students have written
their lists, encourage discussion among your class. Ask all of your students if the
statements would be true of their home cultures or what the appropriate behavior in
their home countries would be. In so doing, you will raise the cultural awareness among
your students and hopefully avoid cultural conflicts in the future.

The imperative is a simple structure to formulate in English, and your students will have
fun giving directions and suggestions to their classmates.
Try these activities the next time you want to stress with your students how to follow
directions.