How to use imperative form 命令形 めいれいけい and 禁止形 きんしけい in Japanese

Hey! Don’t leave. That’s an order. Hi guys today we are going to be learning about how to give strong commands in Japanese. This is going to be a really fun and interesting lesson which isn’t too hard to get started with straight away.

BondLingo - YouTube Premium MemberShip

The Japanese imperative and negative imperative form – Don’t sleep!

We will be learning about 2 forms today 

  1. The Imperative form 命令形 めいれいけい
  2. The Negative Imperative forms 禁止形 きんしけい

We will be breaking down today’s lesson into 5 segments to make the information as easy to digest as possible. The sections will be as follows: 

  1. We will look at the Imperative form 命令形 めいれいけい in detail and learn how the grammar works.
  2. We will look at the negative imperative form 禁止形 きんしけい and learn how the grammar works.
  3. We will be looking at some fantastic example sentences with both forms to help us get a good grip on each of today’s grammar points.
  4. We will be teaching you a great study technique that you can use to master both of the grammar points from today’s lesson.
  5. We will finally have a quick summary of today’s lesson to make sure we haven’t missed anything.

This is going to be a really useful lesson and we can’t wait to jump right in, let’s go!

JLPT N4 Summary of Japanese Verb Conjugation forms | Learn Japanese online

Let’s look at the Imperative form 命令形 めいれいけい

It’s time to learn how the grammar works. 

The Imperative form is used when you want to command somebody to do something. 

The meireikei 命令形 is placed at the end of the sentence as the main verb. This form is quite offensive and has a very strong connotation so should definitely be sued with caution. 

The conjugation of this form is a little tricky so let’s look at how you would do this now:

Group 1書くKakuTo read Replace last う with え 書け kake
Group 1買うKauTo buyReplace last う with え買え kae
Group 1待つMatsuTo wait Replace last う with え待て mate
Group 2 食べるTaberuTo eatRemove る and add よ or ろ食べよ/ろ Tabeyo / tabero
Group 3するSuruTo doせよ/ろ Seyo Shiro
Group 3くるKuruTo come 来い koi

As you can see each group has a different conjugation so it can be quite difficult to get used to at first. Let’s look at an example. 

寝ろ!
Nero
Sleep

Imperative sentences are usually very short. In this example the speaker is commanding someone to sleep or “keep sleeping”. 

It will take some time to get used to all of the different conjugations but we will come on to that later. 

Let’s now look at the next form which is the negative imperative form.

Let’s look at the negative imperative form 禁止形 きんしけい

It’s time to learn how the grammar works. 

Unlike the first example, the negative imperative form when used means “Don’t do something” . 

In the Japanese version of “don’t drink and drive” slogan, 【乗るなら飲むな】 Noru nara nomu na

The good news is that this so so easy to use. You simple add な to the end of a dictionary form verb. Let’s look at an example.

寝るな
Neru na
Don’t sleep

You can see how easy this is to form so lets now have a look at some example sentences with both forms. 

Let’s read over some fantastic example sentences

Get a good grip on each of today’s grammar points. 

This is a great sentence you can use in a positive light. Commands don’t always have to be negative. 

自分を信じろ!
Jibun wo Shinjiro
Believe in yourself!

Here is a really common phrase that you can use and have probably heard time and time again. 

頑張れ
Ganbare
Do your best.

Moving onto the negative imperative you can see how easy this is to use and apply in these next 2 examples.  

心配するな。
Shinpai suru na 
Don't worry about it.
運転するなら飲むな
Unten suru nara nomu na
If you drive don't drink
BondLingo - YouTube Premium MemberShip

A great study technique that you can use to master both of the grammar points from today’s lesson.

Don’t skip this section! 

So now we know about how to form sentences. We need to look at how to look at how you can retain the information from today’s lesson. 

Now we know that the negative imperative is easy to form so with that you will only need to write a few example sentences of your own, that won’t be a problem.

However, the imperative form is a lot harder to form over the 3 groups. You are going to want to write out a table of your own each day for the next 3 days. Then once you are comfortable with that you should then start to write many example sentences of your own. Try and make as many as you can for 3 more days after. This will really help you get a really good command over both imperative forms that we have learnt today. 

Let’s now have a quick summary. 

A quick summary of today’s lesson

Let’s make sure we haven’t missed anything

  1. Both imperative and negative imperative forms are very rude and quite strong so use with caution
  2. The negative imperative form is easily formed, just add な to the end of a dictionary form verb.
  3. The imperative form is a lot harder to form so you should practice with the table provided
  4. Make sure to practice our study tip for the most effective results .

So guys, thanks for joining us for today’s online Japanese lesson from BondLingo. Yes, the imperative form may seem tough but we are sure you will get it with some perseverance. If you have any more questions or suggestions for future content that you would like to learn about, be sure to get in touch with us and we will see what we can do. A big well done today guys you are really taking your own progress into your own hands and should be proud. Until the next time またね.

Learn Japanese Online with BondLingo

Recommend

bondlingo-learn-japanese”>
bondlingo-learn-japanese wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio”>
BondLingo: Learn Japanese online with BondLingo? Want to learn more about Japanese language and cultures with Japanese teacher for free ?