Komm! Mach das!

du command: verb stem, no du, no -st

FormVerb (Stamm, ohne -st, ohne du) + Ergänzungen

Meaning and usage

The du command tells one person you know well to do something. You take the du form of the present tense, remove the -st ending, and leave out the pronoun du. So du machst becomes Mach! and du kommst becomes Komm!. The verb stands first. This form is used with family, friends, children and classmates.

For verbs whose stem ends in -t or -d, such as warten or arbeiten, the command usually keeps an -e: Warte!, Arbeite!. The bare stem Wart! is not the normal standard form here. For most other regular verbs, the -e ending is optional: Mach! and Mache! are both fine, and the short form is common in speech. A common mistake is to keep the -st ending or the pronoun: Machst das! or Du mach das! are not correct commands.

Examples 6

Komm mal her.

Come here a moment.

Mach bitte die Tür hinter dir zu.

Please close the door behind you.

Warte auf mich neben dem Baum da.

Wait for me next to that tree.

Bleib nicht zu lange in der Sonne.

Don't stay in the sun too long.

Komm schon! Wir werden zu spät kommen.

Come on! We're going to be late.

Setz dich wieder! Noch fahren wir nicht.

Sit back down. We're not leaving yet.

Test yourself

1 Sprachbausteine

bitte die Tür zu, Tom!
Show answer
Correct answer: Mach

The command to one person you know well uses the verb stem without -st and without du. Mach is the correct du command here.
- Du mach The pronoun du cannot stand before the verb in a du command.
- Machst This form keeps the -st ending of the du present, which does not belong in the command.
- Machst du This is a question form, not a command.

In this topic: Imperative

Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.