Imperatives: open, don't run, let's go – imperatives exercises for A1 students
About this lesson
This A1 drill lesson gives imperatives exercises for instructions, rules, directions, recipes and suggestions, from Open the window to Don't be late and Let's go.
- Grammar
- The base verb with no subject, don't + verb for everybody, be / don't be + adjective, please first or last, and let's / let's not + verb.
- Topic
- Eagle Lake State Park, an invented park: its rules notice, a recipe card for campfire s'mores, a ranger's directions to the waterfall and Ella's note on the tent.
- Activities
- Sorting, verb choices, gap-fills, word order, matching, tables, a find-the-mistake quiz, a chat in which Amir asks for advice, and a final test.
What's inside
Chapter 1The rule
Chapter 2Do it!
- Choose the right verbChoose the optionTry it
- Drag the verbs into the gaps: in classDrag and dropUnlock
- Write the requests as instructionsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: directionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Match the problems and the instructionsMatchUnlock
- Choose the correct instructionQuizUnlock
- Read the note from Mom and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
Chapter 3Don't do it!
- Fill in the gaps: don't + verbFill in the gapsTry it
- Choose the right negativeChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: negative advice with beFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: do it or don't do itFill in the tableUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: negative instructionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read the pool rules and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
Chapter 4Let's…, recipes and directions
- Choose the right words: let'sChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: make suggestions with let's or let's notFill in the gapsUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchTry it
- Put the words in order: suggestionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Read the recipe and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Read the text from Kate and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Sort the sentences: rules, directions, recipes or suggestions?Sort into columnsUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: At the state park
- Read the park rulesReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the rules again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read the recipe card and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read the directions from Ranger Hughes and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the note from Ella and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Amir texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right form: at homeChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: rules at the libraryFill in the gapsUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: advice from the doctorDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: instructionsUnjumbleUnlock
- Fill in the table: you or we?Fill in the tableUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with let's or let's not: weekend plansFill in the gapsUnlock
- Match the sentences and the repliesMatchUnlock
- Sort the sentences: correct or wrong?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
- Choose the right words: a day at the beachChoose the optionUnlock
- Put the words in order: let's and don'tUnjumbleUnlock
- Read the email and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the ad and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read the post and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: answer with an instructionFill in the gapsUnlock
Grammar: the imperative: do it, don't do it, let's
An imperative tells someone what to do, and it starts with the verb: Sit down. Turn left. There's no subject, and the verb is the same for one person or a group. The negative is don't + verb for everybody; adjectives take be or don't be, and let's makes a suggestion that includes the speaker.
Imperatives: open, don't run, let's go
Tell people what to do and what not to do, or make a suggestion: the verb with no subject.
No subject, one form, please first or last
Rules and instructions have no you: Don't run by the pool, not You don't run by the pool. The verb never changes: Wait, Tom! Wait, kids! Please opens or closes the sentence: Please open the door. Open the door, please.
Do it! · Don't do it!
(Don't)verbthe rest
Close your eyes.
Don't look!
Wash the apples, please.
No you, and where does please go?
A rule or an instruction has no subject: Don't run by the pool. (Not: You don't run by the pool.) The verb never changes: Wait, Tom! Wait, kids! Please goes at the start or at the end: Please open the door. / Open the door, please. (Not: Please, you open the door.)
Don't + verb and don't be + adjective
Put don't before the verb, and nothing else changes: Don't push! After don't comes the bare verb, so Don't to run and Don't running are wrong. An adjective needs be: Be quiet! Don't be late for class, not Don't late or Be not late.
All the forms
| Form | How | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Do it! | verb (no subject) | Open the window. Sit down. Turn left. |
| Don't do it! | don't + verb | Don't run! Don't push! |
| Be…! | be + adjective | Be careful! Be quiet! |
| Don't be…! | don't be + adjective | Don't be late for class. |
| Please… | please + verb · verb … please | Please wait. · Wait here, please. |
| Let's… (you and me) | let's + verb | Let's go! Let's dance! |
| Let's not… | let's not + verb | Let's not wait. Let's not argue. |
Common mistakes
Not run! · No touch! · Doesn't run!
Don't run! · Don't touch!
negative: don't + verb, for everybody
Don't to run. · Don't running.
Don't run.
after don't: the verb only
Be not late. · Don't late.
Don't be late.
with an adjective: don't be + adjective
Let's to go. · Let's going. · Let's we go. · Lets go.
Let's go.
let's (= let us) + the verb only
Let's and let's not: you and me
Let's is short for let us, so the speaker joins in: Let's dance! The verb follows alone, with no to, no -ing and no we. The negative is let's not + verb: Let's not argue. Signs often write don't in full: Do not enter.
Short forms
Don't is the short form of do not. Signs often say Do not: Do not enter. Let's is the short form of let us, so it has an apostrophe ('): Let's go, not Lets go. The negative is Let's not + verb.
Rules, directions, recipes and wishes
The same form gives instructions (Answer the questions.), rules, directions (Go straight, then turn right.), advice (Don't worry!), recipe steps and invitations: Come in! Wishes are imperatives too: Have a good day! Enjoy your meal!
When do we use it?
- Instructions: Read the text. Answer the questions.
- Rules: Don't eat in class. Stop at the red light.
- Directions: Go straight, then turn right.
- Advice: Drink a lot of water. Don't worry!
- Recipes: Mix the eggs and the milk.
- Invitations and wishes: Come in! Have a good day!
- Suggestions (you and me): Let's take a break!
Examples
- Please wait for the green light.please + verb
- Help me, please!verb …, please
- Don't forget your keys!don't + verb
- Be careful with the hot tea.be + adjective
- Let's not watch TV. Let's read.let's not / let's + verb
- Enjoy your meal!a wish
Try the imperatives exercises
Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.
What's in the lesson
- 41 auto-checked exercises
- 5 games
- 1 real-life document
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 picture
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- give instructions and directions with the base verb and no you: Take the first street on the left. Turn off your phones, please.
- say what not to do with don't + verb, the same for everyone: Don't touch the pan, not Not touch or Doesn't touch
- use be and don't be with adjectives: Be careful near the fire! Don't be shy.
- suggest things for you and me with let's and let's not: Let's take a photo by the lake. Let's not walk too fast.
- put please at the start or the end: Please wait. Wait here, please.
This is lesson 15 of 24 in English Grammar Practice · A1. No grammar hub covers imperatives, so the English grammar page lists it. Lesson 14, Can and can't: I can swim, comes before it, and lesson 16, Object pronouns: me, him, her, them, follows. With no vocabulary to learn, a drill lesson slots in next to any course book whenever a class meets don't or let's.
The rule chapter has a picture, the scheme and four quick checks: true or false, a three-way sort, a form choice and negatives to write. Do it! drills positive verbs in seven exercises, from reasons that fix the verb to street directions in order and a note from Mom. Don't do it! works on don't and don't be and ends with a pool's rules. The fourth chapter adds let's, banana pancakes and Kate's directions to her apartment. In the real-life chapter, students read the Eagle Lake rules, complete a s'mores recipe card and a ranger's directions, answer Amir's texts from the campsite and take a 12-question test.
Homework is 15 tasks, all checked automatically and all with fresh sentences: library rules, a doctor's advice for a cold, a you-or-we table, weekend plans with let's, replies to match, a correct-or-wrong sort, an email for a house sitter, an ad for a kids' cooking club, first-day tips and short answers that become instructions.
- Grammar:
- imperatives · don't + verb · be / don't be · let's / let's not
- Topic:
- grammar practice · instructions and rules · directions · recipes · state park
Teaching tips
- Start with instructions students can act out: Stand up. Close your eyes. Don't look! Then write two of them on the board and ask where the subject is. There isn't one.
- Ask who does it after Open the window and Let's open the window: the listener in the first, the speaker and the listener in the second. Students then turn four instructions into suggestions.
- Write a class notice before chapter 5: groups write three rules with a verb and three with Don't, then compare them with the Eagle Lake park rules.
- Drill be with feelings: show a face (scared, sad, angry) and students answer Don't be scared! or Be happy! It fixes Don't scared, a wrong reply the chat with Amir offers.
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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · A1
English Grammar Practice · A1 has 24 drill lessons for adult beginners, one grammar point each, from the verb to be and the present simple to can, was and were and telling the time. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words, so it works next to any course.See the course
- 1To be: I am, you are, she is
- 2To be negatives and questions: is it your bag?
- 3Subject pronouns and possessive adjectives: I, my, she, her
- 4This, that, these, those: what's this?
- 5Plural nouns: one box, two boxes
- 6A, an, the: a new apartment
- 7There is, there are: what's in the hotel?
- 8Have and has: she has a dog
- 9Present simple: she works, they work
- 10Present simple: don't, doesn't, do you…?
- 11Adverbs of frequency: always, usually, never
- 12In, on, at: times, days and months
- 13Prepositions of place: in, on, under, next to
- 14Can and can't: I can swim
- 15Imperatives: open, don't run, let's go
- 16Object pronouns: me, him, her, them
- 17Possessive 's: whose bag is this?
- 18Present continuous: what's happening now?
- 19Present simple or present continuous: every day or now?
- 20Like, love, hate + -ing: I love dancing
- 21Wh- questions: what, where, when, why?
- 22Countable and uncountable nouns: some, any, how much?
- 23Was and were: where were you yesterday?
- 24Telling the time and dates: what time is it?