Prepositions taking the genitive case
In Chapter 7, we examined how to form the imperative for normal German verbs. Reflexive verbs form the imperative in a similar way, but also require the inclusion of a reflexive pronoun:

Grammar 18: Imperative of reflexive verbs Person Imperative Imperative du setz(e) dich! (sit down!) melde dich! (get in touch!) ihr setzt euch! (sit down!) meldet euch! (get in touch!) Sie (polite) setzen Sie sich! (sit down!) melden Sie sich! (get in touch!) wir setzen wir uns! (let's sit down!) melden wir uns! (let's get in touch!)

Notes
1. The pronoun is included in the polite "Sie" and "wir" forms of the imperative, but not in the informal "du" and "ihr" forms.

2. As the stem of the verb "melden" ends in "-d-" it retains the "-e" ending in the "du" form of the imperative. This "-e" ending is optional with the "du" imperative of the verb "setzen".

Imperative of reflexive verbs with a dative object
Both "sich setzen" and "sich melden" are reflexive verbs where the reflexive pronoun is in the accusative case (see Chapter 10.8). The table below shows the imperative for reflexive verbs that take a dative reflexive pronoun using the separable verb "sich vorstellen" (see Chapter 10.10).

Grammar 19: Imperative with dative reflexive pronouns Person Imperative du stell(e) dir vor! (imagine!) ihr stellt euch vor! (imagine!) Sie (polite) stellen Sie sich vor! (imagine!) wir stellen wir uns vor! (let's imagine!)

As the table above indicates, the prefix of an separable verb goes to the end of a clause in the imperative. This is true for non-reflexive verbs as well as reflexive verbs:

Grammar 20: Imperative with a separable verb Person Imperative du leg(e) deinen Mantel ab! (take your coat off!) ihr legt euren Mantel ab (take your coat off!) Sie (polite) legen Sie sich Ihren Mantel ab! (take your coat off!)

(Note that in the above examples "der Mantel" remains singular even when the imperative refers to more than one person. This is because in German each person is deemed to only have one coat each.)

Imperative of reflexive verbs with a dative and accusative object
In Chapter 10.10 we looked at reflexive verbs where the reflexive pronoun is in the dative case whilst another object is in the accusative case. The imperative of such verbs is indicated in the following table.

Grammar 21: Imperative of "to listen to a CD" Person Imperative du hör(e) dir die CD an! (listen to the CD!) ihr hört euch die CD an! (listen to the CD!) Sie (polite) hören Sie sich die CD an! (listen to the CD!) wir hören wir uns die CD an! (let's listen to the CD!)

Chapter 12.13: Unusual adjectives

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