Imperative

The imperative gives orders, makes requests and offers advice. Unlike the other moods it has only two forms: one for ti (one person) and one for ju (several people). For everyone else Albanian borrows a form from the subjunctive.

How it is formed

The ju form is the same as the present indicative ju form: punoni!, hapni!, pini!, ecni!
The ti form is that same ju form without -ni: puno!, hap!, pi!, ec!, ik!, fshi!

Because the ti form comes from ju, a verb that changes its vowel there keeps the change: dal gives dil! (from dilni), fle gives fli!, marr gives merr! and jap gives jep!.

By conjugation class

Class	ti	ju	Note
1	puno!	punoni!	Verbs in -aj, -ëj, -uaj keep the -j in ti: laj!, luaj!, bëj!, shkruaj!. One-syllable verbs in -ej keep it too (gjej!); longer verbs in -ej drop it (kërcej gives kërce!, blej gives bli!).
2	hap! dil! merr!	hapni! dilni! merrni!	Verbs in -s take -t: pyes gives pyet!, pres gives prit!, shes gives shit!, zbres gives zbrit!
3	pi! fli! rri!	pini! flini! rrini!	Some verbs add -r: bie gives bjer!, hyj gives hyr!, lë gives lër!, vë gives vër!, zë gives zër!
4	ec! ik! hip!	ecni! ikni! hipni!
5	see below	see below	The common irregular verbs have their own forms.
6	hapu! lahu! ngrihu!	hapuni! lahuni! ngrihuni!	Add the clitic u to the imperative of the active verb, with an h between a vowel and the u: laj gives lahu!, hap gives hapu! "open yourself up", ngre "lift" gives ngrihu! "get up".

The irregular imperatives

Verb	ti	ju
dua "want"	duaj!	doni!
flas "speak"	fol!	flisni!
jam "be"	ji!	jini!
kam "have"	ki!	kini!
them "say"	thuaj!	thoni!
vij "come"	eja!	ejani!

The negative imperative

Put mos before the imperative: Mos hap derën! "Do not open the door!" For a Class 6 verb the u then moves in front of the verb, which takes the ordinary active imperative: mos u hap "do not open yourself up", mos u laj "do not wash yourself", mos u lani (to several people).

When to use it

The imperative expresses what the speaker wants someone to do, and the nuance depends on tone and context:

Ordering: Hap derën! "Open the door!"
Inviting: Ejani këtu! "Come here!"
Advising: Pi ujë! "Drink water!"
Requesting: Më jep ujë! "Give me water!"

Everyone else: let's, let him, let them

The imperative has no form for "we", "he", "she" or "they". Albanian uses the present subjunctive instead:

Le të hamë. "Let's eat." The first person plural of the present subjunctive alone can also mean "let's".
Le të punojë ai. "Let him work."

The particle le means "let" and goes before të and the subjunctive. The future, too, is sometimes used with the force of a firm order: Sot do të rrish në shtëpi. "Today you will stay at home."

Pronouns with the imperative

In everyday speech the short pronouns më and na usually go before the imperative. In careful speech they follow it and attach to it: Jepmë ujë! "Give me water!"

Watch out: a verb that keeps its -j in the imperative (shkruaj!) drops it when a pronoun is attached: Shkruana një letër! "Write us a letter!"