| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) dich hier. |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) dich hier. |
| setz |
| setz |
| Bitte setz dich hier. |
| Bitte setz dich hier. |
| "Please sit down here." |
| We use setz here because it is the correct du-form imperative of setzen. |
| Setzen is the infinitive, not an imperative. It cannot be used to give a direct command. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) es noch einmal. |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) es noch einmal. |
| sag |
| sag |
| Bitte sag es noch einmal. |
| Bitte sag es noch einmal. |
| "Please say it one more time." |
| We use sag here because it is the correct du-form imperative of sagen. |
| Sagt is the plural imperative or 3rd person singular, so it doesn't match when addressing just one person. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) deinen Namen auf. |
| Bitte (pause with a tap of the finger) deinen Namen auf. |
| schreib |
| schreib |
| Bitte schreib deinen Namen auf. |
| Bitte schreib deinen Namen auf. |
| "Please write down your name." |
| We use schreib here because it is the correct du-form imperative of schreiben. |
| Schreiben is the infinitive, not an imperative form. |
| Unscramble the words to make a sentence. |
| Ready? |
| Bitte |
| Bitte hör |
| Bitte hör gut |
| Bitte hör gut zu. |
| "Please listen carefully." |
| Bitte hör gut zu. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Bitte (wartest or warte) einen Moment. |
| Bitte (wartest or warte) einen Moment. |
| warte |
| warte |
| Bitte warte einen Moment. |
| "Please wait a moment." |
| We use warte here because it is the correct imperative du-form of warten. The distractor wartest is the present tense (2nd person singular) and cannot be used as a command. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Bitte (bring or bringen) das Buch zurück. |
| Bitte (bring or bringen) das Buch zurück. |
| bring |
| bring |
| Bitte bring das Buch zurück. |
| "Please bring back the book." |
| We use bring here because it is the correct imperative du-form of bringen. The distractor bringen is the infinitive, which doesn't work in the imperative sentence. |
| Let's translate some sentences into German. |
| Translate "Please call me tomorrow." into German. |
| Bitte, meaning "please," |
| followed by |
| ruf, the imperative form of rufen, meaning "call," |
| next |
| mich, meaning "me," |
| followed by |
| morgen, meaning "tomorrow," |
| next |
| an, the separable prefix of anrufen, meaning "call up." |
| We use ruf here because it is the imperative du-form of anrufen. The separable prefix an always goes to the end in the imperative. |
| Bitte ruf mich morgen an. |
| Bitte ruf mich morgen an. |
| "Please call me tomorrow." |
| Translate "Please show me the way." into German. |
| Bitte, meaning "please," |
| followed by |
| zeig, the imperative form of zeigen, meaning "show," |
| next |
| mir, meaning "to me," |
| followed by |
| den Weg, meaning "the way." |
| We use zeig here because it is the imperative du-form of zeigen. In the imperative, the verb comes right after bitte and before the object. |
| Bitte zeig mir den Weg. |
| Bitte zeig mir den Weg. |
| "Please show me the way." |
| Translate "Please take a seat." into German. |
| Bitte, meaning "please," |
| followed by |
| nimm, the imperative form of nehmen, meaning "take," |
| next |
| Platz, meaning "a seat" or "place." |
| We use nimm here because nehmen is an irregular verb. In the imperative du-form, the vowel changes from e to i, so it becomes nimm. |
| Bitte nimm Platz. |
| Bitte nimm Platz. |
| "Please take a seat." |
| Listen to me as I speak. Which verb in imperative form is used in the sentences? |
| Bitte setz dich hier. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| Bitte setz dich hier. |
| Did you hear setz? That's the imperative form of setzen, meaning "sit." We use it here to politely tell someone to sit down. |
| How about...? |
| Bitte warte einen Moment. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| Bitte warte einen Moment. |
| Did you hear warte? That's the imperative form of warten, meaning "wait." It's used to politely ask someone to wait. |
| Next… |
| Bitte bring das Buch zurück. |
| One more time. |
| Bitte bring das Buch zurück. |
| Did you hear bring? That's the imperative form of bringen, meaning "bring." Here it's used to politely ask someone to return the book. |
| And... |
| Bitte zeig mir den Weg. |
| One more time. |
| Bitte zeig mir den Weg. |
| Did you hear zeig? That's the imperative form of zeigen, meaning "show." It's used here to ask someone to show you the way. |
| Thank you for watching. |
| Now you know how to ask someone to do something in German. |
| ...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway. |
| Bis bald! |
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