Chapter LIII: The Imperative Mode

=208.= We learned in Lesson XIV that sentences expressing a command or an entreaty are called imperative sentences; that the subject of the verb in an imperative sentence is a pronoun of the second person,—_you_, _thou_, or _ye_; and that this subject is seldom expressed. The verb in an imperative sentence is said to be in the =imperative mode=; as, “_Sleep_, baby, _sleep_.”

=209.= There is only one form for the imperative mode, hence it is not said to have tense at all.

Conjugation of _be_ in the imperative mode:—

_Singular_ _Plural_

be (_you_ or _thou_) be (_you_ or _ye_)

Conjugation of _see_ in the imperative mode:—

_Singular_ _Plural_

see (_you_ or _thou_) see (_you_ or _ye_)

=Summary.=—The =imperative mode= is used in expressing a command or an entreaty. It has but one form. Its subject is always the pronoun _you_, _thou_, or _ye_.

=Exercise.=—From these sentences select the verbs in the imperative mode. Conjugate these verbs in the indicative, subjunctive, and imperative modes.

1. Ring, happy bells, across the snow.

2. Break, break, break, on thy cold, gray stones, O sea!

3. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

4. Run upstairs and get my glasses.

5. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks.

6.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!
As the swift seasons roll.
Leave thy low-vaulted past,
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast....

7. Laugh, and the world laughs with you.

8.

Work till the last beam fadeth,
Fadeth to shine no more.

9. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.

10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.

11. Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come
unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

12. Honor thy father and thy mother.

13.

Tell me not in mournful numbers
Life is but an empty dream.

Find all the terms of address in the sentences above.