The Imperative Mood (Imperativul) in Romanian

The *Imperative Mood (Modul Imperativ) in Romanian issues direct commands, instructions, and requests to the 2nd person singular (tu) and plural (voi*):

*1. Affirmative Imperative (Imperativul afirmativ): - Plural (voi): Morphologically identical to the 2nd person plural of the Present Indicative: Cântați! (Sing!), Citiți! (Read!), Mergeți! (Go!), Faceți! (Do!). - Singular (tu): Highly idiosyncratic. For 1st conjugation verbs (-a), it typically equals the 2nd sg. present (Cântă!, Lucrează!). For 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugation verbs, it almost always equals the 3rd person singular present indicative: Citește! (Read!), Scrie! (Write!), Mergi! (Go!). - Key irregular singular imperatives: Fă! (Do!), Zi! (Say!), Du! (Take/carry!), Vino! (Come!), Fii!* (Be!).

*2. The Negative Imperative (Imperativul negativ): - Plural (voi): Built simply with nu + plural imperative: Nu citiți!, Nu mergeți! - Singular (tu): Built with nu + the SHORT INFINITIVE of the verb (a unique structural feature): - Nu citi! (Do not read! — NOT Nu citește!) - Nu face! (Do not do! — NOT Nu fă!) - Nu fi trist!* (Do not be sad!)

Clitic Placement: In affirmative commands, clitic pronouns attach to the end of the imperative with a hyphen (Ascultă-mă! = Listen to me!). In negative commands, clitics precede the infinitive (Nu mă asculta! = Do not listen to me!).