Imperatives are commands, or requests. Things like telling someone “come here” or “eat your food!” Imperatives can be negated too, as in “don’t eat that!” As we move through our day, we often find ourselves using the imperative and so being able to jump right in and do that will hopefully help you start integrating nêhiyawêwin into your day as quickly as possible.
Video 2a: Forming the VAI imperative (10:47 min)
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GRAMMAR NOTE:
The imperative is a verbal conjugation form used to address a command, suggestion, or request to someone directly. For example in English: Eat! Sleep! This is a complete sentence in this context.
Watch the following video about how to form the imperative, and then complete the following exercise.
Exercise 2a
Follow the directions to practice forming the VAI imperative for 2s, 2p, and 1p. Then, use context clues to form the correct imperative form of verbs to fill in the blanks in a short Creenglish story. The KEY can be found in this Module’s Keys and Resources section. Once you are finished, please go on to the next instructional video.
Video 2b: Negating VAI imperatives and forming the VAI delayed imperative (6:08 min)
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GRAMMAR NOTE:
A negation is when certain words or entire sentences are nullified or shown to be untrue by adding a negative. In English this is usually done by adding an adverb “not” used with auxiliary verbs like “to do” or “to be.” For example: “I do not hear that” or “I am not hungry.” Negation can also be used with the imperative to tell someone not to do an action: DO NOT EAT! DON’T SLEEP!
In addition to telling (or asking) people to carry out certain actions, it can often be necessary to tell/ask them NOT to do something. Or, perhaps we want to ask them to do that action later. This video covers how to negate imperatives, creating the “don’t do that!” command, as well as how to form the delayed imperative, the “do that later!” command.
Once you’ve gone through this video, complete the following exercise.