In short

To tell a friend what to do, use the present tense with almost nothing changed: parla!, prendi!, senti!, andiamo!, venite!. Only one form is genuinely new - the tu form of -are verbs ends in -a (parla!, not parli). And to tell that same friend not to do it, put non in front of the plain infinitive: Non parlare!

The rule

The imperative is the mood of orders, instructions, advice, recipes and pleas. This lesson covers the three informal persons - tu (one friend), noi (let’s…), voi (a group). The polite Lei command (parli!, prenda!) is built from a different mood entirely and waits for you at step 38.

Nearly all of it is recycled from the present indicative you learned at steps 6 and 9.

• Step 1 - noi and voi cost you nothing. They are the present indicative forms, unchanged, minus the subject pronoun: parliamo! (let’s talk!), parlate! (talk!). No new endings at all.
• Step 2 - tu for -ere and -ire verbs also costs you nothing: prendi!, senti!, finisci! - identical to tu prendi, tu senti, tu finisci.
• Step 3 - tu for -are verbs is the one thing to learn. Drop the -i and end in -a: parla!, guarda!, aspetta!, entra!

That third step is the whole difficulty. The -are imperative looks like the lui/lei present (lui parla), while the -ere/-ire imperative looks like the tu present (tu prendi). Learners who say parli! to a friend have accidentally used the polite form.

The five short irregulars

Five very common verbs have a squashed tu form, written with an apostrophe: va’ (go), da’ (give), fa’ (do/make), di’ (say/tell), sta’ (stay/be). Va’, da’, fa’ and sta’ also keep a full alternative (vai!, dai!, fai!, stai!), both correct; dire has only di’. Their noi/voi forms are the ordinary present: andiamo/andate, facciamo/fate, diciamo/dite.

Essere, avere and sapere are the true oddities and are simply memorised: sii/siamo/siate, abbi/abbiamo/abbiate, sappi/sappiamo/sappiate.

Pronouns stick to the end

With tu, noi, voi commands the pronouns you met at steps 17 and 20 do not sit in front - they weld onto the back of the verb, forming one written word: Parlami!, Prendilo!, Ditemi!, Alzati!, Alziamoci!, Alzatevi!, Compratelo! The stress never moves: pàrlami, àlzati.

The doubling rule

After the four apostrophe forms da’, fa’, di’, sta’ (and va’), the first consonant of the attached pronoun doubles: dammi, fallo, dimmi, dillo, stammi bene, vacci, vattene.

One exception, and it is worth a sticky note: gli never doubles. Digli la verità, Fagli un favore, Daglielo.

The negative - and why Italian is kind here

• tu: non + the infinitive, the bare dictionary form. Non parlare!, Non correre!, Non dire niente!, Non andare via!
• noi / voi: non + the ordinary imperative. Non parliamo!, Non parlate!

That is all. Spanish forces a subjunctive on every negative command; Italian asks only for the infinitive, which is why this lesson sits comfortably at A2.

With a pronoun, a negative command gives you two correct homes - attached (the infinitive drops its final -e) or in front of the verb: Non parlarmi! = Non mi parlare!; Non farlo! = Non lo fare!; Non preoccuparti! = Non ti preoccupare! Pick one. The pronoun appears once, never twice.

Softening an order

A bare imperative can sound blunt. Italians soften it constantly with per favore, dai (come on), un attimo, or a diminutive: Aspetta un attimo, per favore. Public instructions, meanwhile, skip the imperative and use a bare infinitive: Spingere, Tirare, Non fumare, Rallentare.

Forms & patterns

The regular pattern - notice how little is new:

Where each form comes from:

The irregulars worth knowing:

Pronoun attachment and the doubling rule:

Positive against negative, side by side:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Non parla con lui! -> Non parlare con lui! - the negative tu command is non + the infinitive, never the positive imperative. This is the number one error of this lesson.
• Ascolti questa canzone! (to a friend) -> Ascolta questa canzone! - for -are verbs the tu command ends in -a. The -i form is the polite Lei (step 38), so parli! to a friend sounds oddly formal.
• Da’ mi una mano -> Dammi una mano - the pronoun attaches to the verb, and after da’ its consonant doubles. One word, two m’s.
• Non fallo! -> Non farlo! (or Non lo fare!) - once non arrives, the verb becomes an infinitive, so the doubling forms fallo/dimmi/dammi disappear with it.
• Vi alzate! (as a command) -> Alzatevi! - in a positive command the reflexive pronoun goes on the end; in front of the verb it is just a statement, you get up.

Tips

• Only one new form exists. Say it out loud: -are verbs take -a for tu. Everything else - prendi, senti, parliamo, parlate - is the present tense you already own, with the subject pronoun dropped and an exclamation mark added.
• The apostrophe is a warning light. va’, da’, fa’, di’, sta’ are the five one-syllable commands, and every one of them doubles the next consonant: vacci, dammi, fammi, dimmi, stammi. Learn the trio dammi - dimmi - fallo as a chant and the rule comes for free. Gli is the lone survivor: digli, daglielo.
• Negative tu = non + dictionary form. If you can read a verb in a dictionary, you can already forbid it: Non fumare!, Non toccare!, Non dimenticare!
• When in doubt, use voi. It is the present tense untouched, works for any group, and needs no irregular list - which is exactly why recipes and instructions are written in it: mescolate, aggiungete, servite.