26. Commands and Requests – Introduction

Introduction

The chapter titled “Commands and Requests” delves into the usage of imperatives and modal verbs for issuing commands and making requests. Imperatives are employed for direct orders, while modal verbs convey varying degrees of necessity or politeness in requests. The formality of these commands and requests can be influenced by the context.

Imperatives

• Imperatives are sentences that express commands, instructions, or requests.
• They are formed using the base form of the verb (without “to”).
• Examples:
  “Close the door.”
  “Please sit down.”
  “Don’t talk during the class.”

Types of Imperative Sentences with Examples
1. Positive Imperatives

• Positive imperatives are used to give direct orders or commands.
• They usually begin with the base form of the verb.
• Examples:
  “Bring me a glass of water.”
  “Clean your room.”
  “Finish your homework.”

2. Negative Imperatives

• Negative imperatives are used to prohibit or forbid actions.
• They are formed by adding “do not” or “don’t” before the base form of the verb.
• Examples:
  “Don’t touch the hot stove.”
  “Do not enter without permission.”
  “Don’t run in the corridor.”

Polite Requests using Modal Verbs

• Modal verbs are used to make polite requests or to express varying degrees of necessity.
• Modal verbs include “can,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “would,” “should,” etc.
• Examples:
  “Can you please pass me the salt?”
  “Could you lend me your pen?”
  “Would you mind closing the window?”

Try yourself:

Which of the following sentences is a negative imperative?

• A.Please bring me a book.
• B.Don’t forget to call me later.
• C.Can you help me with this?
• D.Finish your dinner before watching TV.

View SolutionExpressing Commands and Requests in Different Situations

• Commands and requests can vary based on the situation and the relationship between the speaker and the listener.
• In formal situations, it is common to use indirect commands and requests using phrases such as “Would you be so kind as to…” or “Could I ask you to…”
• In informal situations, direct imperatives and polite requests using modal verbs are more commonly used.

Changing Commands and Requests into Indirect Speech

• In imperative sentences that convey commands, the reporting verb is altered to reflect a command, such as  “order,” “tell,” “allow,” “request,”  etc.
• The imperative mood is transformed into the infinitive form by prefixing  “to”  before the verb.
• In negative sentences, the auxiliary verb  “do”  is omitted, and  “to”  is positioned after  “not.” 

Examples:

• Direct: She said to me, “Open the window.”
  Indirect: She ordered me to open the window.
• Direct: The captain said to the soldiers, “Attack the enemy.”
  Indirect: The captain commanded the soldiers to attack the enemy.
• Direct: I said to him, “Leave this place at once.”
  Indirect: I told him to leave that place at once.
• Direct: The teacher said to the students, “Listen to me attentively.”
  Indirect: The teacher asked the students to listen to him attentively.
• Direct: The Principal said to the peon, “Ring the bell.”
  Indirect: The Principal ordered the peon to ring the bell.
• Direct: The master said to the servant, “Fetch me a glass of water.”
  Indirect: The master ordered the servant to fetch him a glass of water.
• Direct: I said to him, “Please bring me a glass of water.”
  Indirect: I requested him to bring me a glass of water.
• Direct: I said to my friend, “Please lend me your book.”
  Indirect: I requested my friend to lend me his book.

Sentences with ‘Let’.

‘Let’ is used in various meanings.

(i) ‘Let’ is used to make a proposal:

• First change the reporting verb into ‘proposed’ or ‘suggested’.
• Use ‘should’ instead of ‘let’.
  Example:
  Direct: He said to me, “Let us go home.”
  Indirect: He suggested to me that we should go home.

(ii) ‘Let’ is used as ‘to allow’:

• In Indirect Speech, we change the reporting verb to ‘requested’ or ‘ordered’.We start Reported Speech with ‘to’.
  Example:
  Direct: Ram said to Mohan, “Let him do it.”
  Indirect: Ram ordered Mohan to let him do that.
  Or
  Ram told Mohan that he might be allowed to do that.

Difference between commands and requests

• It’s important to note that commands and requests are different sentence types.
• A request is a polite way of asking someone to do something, whereas a command is a more direct way of telling someone what to do.
• For example, “Could you please pass the salt?” is a request, while “Pass me the salt” is a command. In the first sentence, the speaker is asking for a favor, while in the second sentence, the speaker is giving a direct order.