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Imperatives and question words
הוצגהמיקום המנוהל נשמר בדפדפן הזה. המשך אינו משלים את השיעור או עונה על שאלותיו.
Give an instruction; ask for information

- Outcome: give a simple classroom instruction and ask a question that fits the information you need. Start with can and requests.
- Starting check: does Can you sit here, please? have to ask about a skill? No: in a classroom it can ask someone to move.
Please sit down. The chair has been waiting all morning.
A common imperative pattern
- Start a simple imperative with a base verb: Open the door. Come in. The listener is understood; you usually do not write you.
- Please open the door and Open the door, please are useful request forms. Please can soften a request, but tone and situation matter too.
- An imperative can give an instruction, advice or an invitation. Some imperatives name the listener: You stay here; I'll get help. A subject does not automatically make an instruction wrong.
Which instruction uses the short verb-first pattern with the listener left understood?
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Open the door starts with the base verb and leaves the listener understood, as requested. You open the door can also give an instruction in context, but explicitly names the listener. Repair: choose the requested pattern without treating every you instruction as wrong.
Translate into English: 请坐下。
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Please sit down is one option. Please take a seat or Could you sit down, please? can also express this request; the translation prompt does not require one grammatical frame.
Use please with a verb-first classroom request. Which option keeps the action verb in its base form?
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Please open your book keeps open as a base verb. Opens adds an ending; to open adds to in this requested imperative frame. Next try: replace open with close.
Negative instructions
- Use Don't + base verb: Don't touch it. Don't be late. For this pattern, leave out to after don't.
- Please don't run asks someone not to run. Do can also add emphasis in an affirmative imperative: Do come in. You need not use it in every instruction.
Make it negative: ___ be late! (one word)
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Negative imperative = Don't + base verb: “Don't be late!”
A negative imperative uses don’t + a base verb. Complete the sign: ___ on the desks.
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Don’t stand asks people not to stand on the desks. After don’t in this frame, use stand rather than to stand or standing. Next try: write a negative instruction with run.
Ask for the information you need
- Common answer types: what — a name or thing; where — a place; who — a person; when — a time; why — a reason.
- How can ask about a method (How do you open it?) or a condition (How are you?). How old are you? asks about age.
- Learn whole question frames: Where do you live? Where is Jo? Who called? Can you help? Only the first of these needs question-making do. The word at the start does not decide the whole grammar.
Which question word asks for this?
Practise common question words with the simple answer types shown here; the full question determines the meaning.
Choose the question word: ___ is your name?
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Asking about a name → What: “What is your name?”
Use is for one person’s location. Choose the full question asking where Ana is.
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Where is Ana? asks for Ana’s location using is before the subject. Where Ana is can occur inside a larger sentence, but it is not this full direct question. Next try: replace Ana with your teacher.
Repair the requested form
- For a negative imperative, change Don't to touch it to Don't touch it.
- For a full standard question with the action verb live, write Where do you live? The shorter Where you live? may occur in conversation; it is not the full form practised here.
- Ask What does this word mean? The action verb stays mean after does. Compare What is this?, which uses is without does.
- In the matching activity, use the simple answer types just introduced. They are learning examples, not rules for every use of each question word: What is her job? also asks about a person.
Match the question words to the simple answer types used in this lesson.
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These are useful beginner answer types, not exclusive meanings for every question. What is her job? concerns a person; learn the full question as well as the word.
Choose the complete standard do-question with the subject you and the action verb live.
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Where do you live? uses do with you and the base verb live. Where you live? may occur as a shorter conversational question; it is not the full do-question requested. Does does not agree with you in this model.
How old asks about age. You need Pat’s age; choose the matching question.
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How old are you? asks Pat’s age. Where asks for a location and who asks for identity. Next try: give an age answer rather than a place.
- A common imperative leaves the listener understood: Open your book. Please can go before the verb; a negative uses don't + base verb.
- Choose a question frame as well as a question word. Where is …?, Where do you …? and Who called? have different structures.
Write one classroom instruction using an imperative (for example: Open your books).
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Example: “Please be quiet.” or “Listen carefully.”
Who can be the subject of a question. You need the name of the person who opened the door. Choose the full question.
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Who opened the door? asks for the person who acted. This subject question does not need do. Where and when cannot replace the person doing the action in these options. Next try: answer with a person’s name.
Three worked contrasts
- Action or ability: a teacher says Open your book to request an action. Can you read this word? can check ability or request reading, depending on the situation. Do not decide the purpose from the verb form alone.
- A named listener: two helpers are leaving. You stay here; I'll carry the box tells one helper what to do. For a task asking for the shorter verb-first pattern, Stay here fits; this does not make every imperative with you wrong.
- Person or place: you need the name of the caller: Who called? You need Jo's location: Where is Jo? Adding do to both questions does not improve them; it breaks these particular frames.
A teacher assigns two jobs: “You stay here; I’ll fetch the books.” What does the first clause do?
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The context makes You stay here an instruction addressed to the listener. Naming you does not rule out an imperative. It does not ask a question about books. Repair: interpret who should act before applying the shorter verb-first model.
You heard a phone ring and need the caller’s identity. Choose a full standard question.
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Who called? asks for the caller, with who as the subject. Where asks for a place and when for a time. This subject question does not need question-making do. Next try: ask for the time of the call instead.
A library sign asks visitors not to use a phone. Choose a negative imperative for the sign.
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Please don’t use your phone here asks visitors not to act; use is a base verb after don’t. The second adds an incorrect to. The third describes a habit in this wording rather than using the requested imperative. Next try: make a sign about not running.
Apply, compare and return
- Answer the fresh situations, then write a short English classroom message. Try before opening its model. Compare the action requested, the negative form and the information asked for; revise one mismatch.
- Tomorrow, without rereading, write a negative instruction and a question asking where a bag is. Explain why the two sentence frames differ.
- Continue with prepositions of place. These written decisions and self-review do not establish spoken tone or independent mastery.
Usage reference: Cambridge, imperative clauses. Original examples; independent language/key and learner review pending.
Facts: class starts soon. Ask a classmate to open the window, tell them not to touch a red switch, and ask where their book is. Write a short English message with an affirmative imperative, a negative imperative and a location question. Compare and revise.
Compare your English with the stated facts and checklist. Repair a real mismatch, or explain why none is present. Several answers can fit. This is written self-review, not an automatic correctness or proficiency result.
Choose the purpose and the sentence frame
- Read who is speaking, what action is wanted and which information is missing in the next decisions. A grammatical question can still ask for the wrong information.
- Try about half the practice today and half in another session. About 45–60 minutes across study, decisions and writing is a planning suggestion, not a test time or a measured level.
At a station you need a train’s departure time. Which question asks for that information?
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When asks for the departure time. Where asks for a place and who for a person. A sensible train question can still ask for the wrong information. Next try: answer with a time.
You cannot find the classroom. Which question asks for its location?
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Where is the classroom? asks for the room’s location. When asks for a time; who asks which person is there. Next try: give a room or floor as the answer.
A friend leaves a party early. You want the reason. Which question fits?
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Why asks for the reason for leaving early. Where asks for a destination, and when for a time. Next try: answer with a reason rather than a destination.
You do not know how to open a new bag. Which question asks for the method?
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How do you open this bag? asks for a way to open it. The owner and location do not supply that method. Next try: give a short instruction as the answer.
Choose the full standard direct question about Maya’s home town.
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Where does Maya live? pairs singular Maya with does and keeps live as a base verb. Lives repeats the ending after does; do does not fit this singular-subject model. Next try: ask about Maya and Jo together.
Choose a complete standard question asking for the meaning of a word.
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What does this word mean? uses does before the singular subject and base verb mean. The other options break agreement or direct-question order. Next try: replace this word with these words.
A host invites a visitor inside with an imperative. Which option uses that form?
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Come in, please is an imperative invitation. You are coming in is a statement; Are you coming in? is a question. All can be English sentences, but only one uses the requested form. Next try: add a negative instruction about shoes.
A sign should ask people not to make a noise. Choose the negative imperative.
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Don’t be noisy keeps be as the base verb after don’t. Are and to be do not fit this negative imperative frame. Next try: replace noisy with late.
A teacher says, “Please bring your notebook tomorrow.” What does this establish?
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The sentence requests bringing the notebook; it does not show that it has arrived or that the student agreed. Next try: write a reply that actually promises to bring it.
A teacher says, “Do listen carefully.” In this context, what can do add?
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Do can add emphasis to the imperative listen carefully. It does not make this a past event or a who-question. Next try: write the ordinary imperative without that emphasis.
A notice reads, “Please wait outside.” Is a verb-first imperative invalid whenever please is written first?
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Please can come before wait without making this request invalid. It can also appear later; the action verb stays in its base form. Next try: rewrite the notice with please at the end.
Two people say “Please leave.” One sounds calm; one sounds angry. What can you conclude from the word please alone?
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Please alone does not guarantee how a request sounds. Tone and situation contribute to politeness; the word does not remove the imperative structure. Next try: name one non-word feature that changes how a listener hears it.
A new student asks, “What is your name?” Which reply answers that question?
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My name is Lina supplies the requested name. The other replies give a place and a time. Next try: write the questions that those other replies would answer.
You ask, “Who called?” Which reply directly provides the requested information?
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My brother identifies the caller. At lunchtime gives a time; from the office gives an origin. Next try: ask a separate when-question if you also need the time.
For a complete standard be-question about the location of two bags, choose the right frame.
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Where are the bags? uses are with plural bags. Is gives singular agreement here; do alone does not form this location question. Next try: ask about one bag.
A friend writes, “You stay with the bags; I’ll buy the tickets.” What can the first clause do here?
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In this situation You stay with the bags can assign a job to the named listener. It is not a price question or evidence of completed action. Next try: rewrite it with the listener understood.
A task asks for a full question beginning with can. Which option fits that specific form?
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Can you carry this? has the requested can-before-subject form. You can carry this? can check information conversationally, but does not begin with can. Do you can mixes question frames. Next try: make a negative answer.
You want to know Ella’s job. Which question asks for that information directly?
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What is Ella’s job? asks for the job. Where asks for a workplace and when for working times. What questions are not confined to naming physical objects. Next try: supply a job, then a separate workplace answer.
Retrieve and revise later
- Tomorrow, try the two review decisions and a new visitor message before rereading. Ask for a name, give an action and keep a doorway clear.
- Compare with the concealed writing model after your attempt. Repair one fact or form, or explain why no repair is needed. These written checks support study; they do not certify independent mastery or speaking/listening proficiency.
Review later: a note should ask people not to leave the door open. Choose a negative imperative.
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Don’t leave uses the base verb after don’t. The second adds to; the third states a habit in this wording. Next try: write a different negative instruction without copying this one.
Review later: you know a meeting is happening but need its location. Which question fits?
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Where asks for the location. Why asks for a reason and when for a time; those may be useful but do not answer this need. Next try: supply a place as your reply.
Return later without rereading. Facts: a visitor needs to put a bag beside a desk. Ask them to do that with an imperative, ask them not to block the door with a negative imperative, and ask their name. Write a short English message; then compare and revise one real mismatch.
Compare your English with the facts and checklist. Revise a real mismatch, or explain why none is present. Several answers can fit. This written self-review does not automatically mark your answer correct or establish proficiency.