The Dutch imperative: how to give commands without sounding rude

You want someone to close the door. In English you'd say "Could you close the door?" or "Close the door, please." In Dutch, the command itself is very simple to build. That's the easy part. The difficult part is that a bare command can sound like an order.

Geef me het zout.

Give me the salt.

It's not rude in a shocking way. It's just direct, and a little cold. In English you'd normally add "please" or turn it into a question. Dutch has its own tools for this, and they're small.

What the Dutch imperative is

The imperative is the verb form you use to give a command, an instruction, or a piece of advice. In English it's the plain verb: "Wait." "Listen." "Sit down."

Dutch works the same way. You take the verb and use the stem. The stem is the infinitive without -en.

That's it. No ending is added. And there's only one form for informal speech. You use the same word for one person or for a group.

Luister!

Listen!

Doe de deur dicht.

Close the door.

Wacht even.

Wait a moment.

The imperative is usually placed at an A1 level. It's one of the first things you can do with a Dutch verb.

Making the stem

The easiest way to find the stem is to think of the ik form of the present tense. The command is the same word, without the ik.

• Ik loop (I walk) gives the command loop (walk).
• Ik zit (I sit) gives the command zit (sit).
• Ik kom (I come) gives the command kom (come).

A few verbs change their spelling a little when the -en is removed. You don't need to learn the reasons now. If you know how to say "I do this" in Dutch, you already know the command.

Loop even mee.

Walk along with me for a moment.

Zit niet zo ver weg.

Don't sit so far away.

Two verbs that behave differently

Two very common verbs don't follow the pattern.

Zijn (to be) uses wees. Hebben (to have) uses heb.

Wees stil.

Be quiet.

Wees voorzichtig.

Be careful.

Heb geduld.

Have patience.

Learn wees as its own word. You might expect ben (am, are) because that's the form in ik ben. But Ben stil isn't a command in Dutch.

Separable verbs split up

Separable verbs are verbs with a small part that jumps to the end of the sentence. They're their own topic. Here's the short version for commands. The main verb goes first, and the small part goes at the end.

Bel me op!

Call me!

Doe de deur dicht.

Close the door.

The first verb is opbellen (to call). The second is dichtdoen (to close). In both, the stem goes first and the small part goes to the end: bel ... op, and doe ... dicht. The command is never one joined word.

Saying no: the negative command

To tell someone not to do something, add niet. In a short command, niet usually comes near the end.

Ga niet weg.

Don't go away.

Doe dat niet.

Don't do that.

Kom niet te laat.

Don't come too late.

English needs "don't" here. Dutch doesn't. There's no helper word. You just say the command and add niet. Notice that niet isn't always right after the verb. In Doe dat niet, it comes after dat (that). If you copy the position from these examples, you'll usually be fine.

The formal command with u

With u (the formal "you"), two things change. The verb gets a -t, and you say the word u right after the verb. Compare:

Worth knowing: the u form sounds formal, and a bit old-fashioned, in everyday speech. You'll mostly hear it in service settings, like a doctor's office or a shop. With friends, colleagues you know well, and children, you'll use the bare stem.

Softening with even, maar and eens

Dutch speakers add little words called modal particles to make a command friendlier. There's a separate article on modal particles in general. Here we only look at three that soften commands. They don't translate exactly. Think of them as tendencies, not fixed meanings.

Even: just a moment

Even makes the request feel small. It means something like "just for a moment." You're saying: this won't take much of your time.

Geef me het zout even.

Give me the salt, would you?

Kijk even.

Take a quick look.

Wacht even.

Wait a moment.

Even is probably the most useful of the three. Add it and the sentence sounds friendlier right away.

Maar: go ahead

Maar here has nothing to do with "but." It gives permission or reassurance. It says: it's fine, go on.

Ga maar zitten.

Go ahead and sit down.

Kom maar binnen.

Come on in.

You'll hear this a lot when someone welcomes you into a home or an office.

Eens: why don't you

Eens encourages. It sounds like a friendly suggestion.

Probeer het eens.

Why don't you try it?

Kom eens hier.

Come over here for a second.

Using them together

You can also put particles together. Here's one example you'll hear soon. It adds a fourth particle, nou. It gives the sentence a light push, a bit like "come on" in English.

Doe het nou maar even.

Come on, just go ahead and do it.

Don't try to build sentences like this yet. Use one particle at a time.

Worth knowing: modal particles like even and wel are usually placed around A2. Using several together is often placed later, around B1 or higher. So if you're at A1, learn the command form first. Add even when you feel ready.

Another way to be polite: ask a question

Sometimes the most natural choice isn't an imperative at all. Dutch speakers often turn the command into a question with kunnen (can) or willen (want to).

Kun je de deur dichtdoen?

Can you close the door?

Wil je even helpen?

Will you help for a moment?

Wilt u even wachten?

Would you wait a moment? (formal)

Notice that even shows up here too. It works in questions as well.

Commands on signs and in recipes

Here's something that looks like a mistake at first. On many signs, you won't see the stem. You'll see the infinitive, the full verb ending in -en.

You'll also hear this on trains and trams. The announcement Uitstappen means "get off" (leave the vehicle here). It's spoken, not written on a sign, but it's the same idea.

Recipes often do the same thing.

De uien fijn snijden.

Cut the onions finely.

The infinitive is used for general instructions that speak to everyone, not to one person. So a friend telling you to push a door says Duw! (Push!), but the door itself says Duwen.

Where English speakers go wrong

Here are the mistakes I see most often.

Adding an ending informally. English speakers learn that Dutch verbs have endings, so they add them. You hear Komt hier! or Komen hier! (both wrong versions of "Come here!"). Both are wrong for an informal command. Use Kom hier! (Come here!)

Forgetting to split the separable verb. An English speaker sees opbellen and says Opbel me! (a wrong version of "Call me!"). The correct command is Bel me op!

Using only bare commands. The grammar is correct, but the tone can feel harsh. Add even, maar or eens, or ask a question with kunnen.

Reading directness as rudeness. This one goes the other way. Sometimes Dutch speakers will sound more direct than you expect, and it can feel rude. Often it isn't meant that way. Different languages have different habits for how much softening is normal. So if someone says a short command to you, don't automatically take it badly. But do learn the softening words, so you sound as friendly as you mean to be.

Common mistake: using toch to soften a command. Toch can sound accusatory, as if you're saying "I already told you." It's a good particle to understand, but a risky one to use before you have a feel for it.

Edge cases

There's one more form worth knowing. To say "let's," use laten we.

Laten we gaan.

Let's go.

The full topic of how u and jij work is a separate article, so we only touched it here.

Putting it together

1. Take the ik form of the present tense and drop the ik. Ik loop gives loop (walk).
2. Don't add an ending for informal speech. Say Kom! (Come!), not Komt!
3. For zijn, use wees. For hebben, use heb.
4. Split separable verbs: Bel me op! (Call me!)
5. Add niet near the end of a short command to say no: Ga niet weg. (Don't go away.)
6. Soften with even, maar or eens, or ask a question with kunnen or willen.
7. On many signs and in many recipes, expect the infinitive: Duwen (Push), Niet roken (No smoking).

Go practice this

Pick three verbs you use every day, like kijken (to look), wachten (to wait) and komen (to come). Write the command form of each. Then add even to each one and say them out loud. The change in tone is easy to hear.

Next time you walk through a Dutch door, look at the sign. Is it Duwen or Trekken? Look for other infinitive signs at the station, in shops, and in parking areas. You'll find them everywhere.

If you get the chance, listen for maar the next time someone invites you in or asks you to sit down. You'll probably hear it in the first ten seconds.

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