The Understanding of Imperative Sentence

Another definition about imperative sees imperative more complete than another, Beaumont and Granger who defined “Imperative is use in many different ways, for example to give orders, to make offers suggestion, to give direction and instruction, warning, and request.” 4 From those definitions above, it can be seen that imperative sentences are used in several utterances. It can be used for giving order, giving direction, making suggestion, express a command, a request, warning and prohibition. As we know that a sentence consists of subject and verb or predicate, imperative sentence also consists of a subject followed by a predicate. 5 It means that, in imperative sentence at least consist of subject and predicate. But the subject in imperative sentence sometime is not expressed, because it is clearly understood by the listener that the subject is you as the second person. 6 The statement above is like Hall said: “The imperative is, incidentally, the only pattern in formal English where the subject is not expressed. In other environments the subject might be omitted in informal speech in a conversational context, where sentence fragments, or utterances, were being used in place of complete, formal sentences.” 7 It means that only imperative that have special pattern where the subject is not expressed, because it is understood that the subject is you, either singular or plural. Even though imperative sentence sometime does not express the subject. But subject in imperative can be used by noun or pronoun if necessary to make the conversation clear who is being spoken to or to show the anger. 8 For example: Agung , come forward Irfan , move this chair to the corner Somebody , clean the whiteboard 4 Digby Beaumont and Colin Granger, English Grammar, Oxford: Heinemann, 1989, p. 52. 5 Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 12. 6 Eugene J. Hall, Grammar for use, Jakarta: Binarupa Aksara, 1993, p. 224. 7 Eugene J. Hall, Grammar for use, …p. 224. 8 Michael Swan, Practical English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 314. In example above, Agung and Irfan are as noun and somebody is as pronoun that can be used as a subject for imperative sentence. Meanwhile, another subject except noun and pronoun also are used to show the anger. For the example: You , get out You , leave me alone The sentences above tell that the subject you is used to show the anger of the speaker to listener. Shortly, subject can be used in imperative sentence but in majority in imperative sentence does not use the subject because if the subject is used it means to show the anger of the speaker and with whom the speaker being spoken. In sum up, imperative sentences are used in several utterances like command, request, suggestion, and so on. Imperative is one of simple sentence types that only consist of subject and basic verb. That often be used in daily conversation, such as command and request that often used by teacher to the students, parents to children, among friend, and so on. Moreover, imperative has the special form that in some imperative sentences are not expressed the subject but it still can be used as a subject to special purposes.

2. Kinds of Imperative

According to Quirk, imperative can be used in two ways: 9

a. The imperative second person .

In this imperative, the subject is not expressed. But, the subject still can be used to make the conversation clear who is being spoken to or show the anger. When the subject is missing, we can say that there is an implied subject you. This is why we call this type of command ‘second person command’. 10 It is used when the imperative is addressed to the second person whom we ask. 9 Randolph Quirk, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, New York: Longman Inc., 1985, p. 830 10 Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar of English: Third Edition, Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited, 2002, p. 265. Example: Open the door. Close the window. Be quiet. You be quiet. Agung, open the door. The negative form of the example above just put Don’t before the imperative sentence. Example: Don’t open the door. Don’t close the window. Don’t smoke in this area. Don’t park in this place. The negative form with putting Don’t also can be used to prohibit person about something and in the last two example it also can be used to utter imperative symbols into sentence.

b. The imperative first and second person together.

In this imperative used let’s and the meaning of let’s is “I have a suggestion for us” 11 , the first person suggest something to second person. Let’s is used to make suggestion about activities for you and me. 12 It is used when the speaker also does the command. Form : Let’s let us + infinitive V1 Example : Let’s go home. Let’s open the door. The negative form of this kinds are Let’s not and Don’t Let’s, but the more common and more correct is the first one Let’s not. 13 11 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar: Third Edition, New York: Pearson Education, 1999, p. 169. 12 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Fundamentals of English Grammar: Third Edition, New York: Pearson Education, 2003, p. 215. 13 Michael Swan, Practical English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 315.