The imperative in Islandish is formed from the present forms in the following way:
in 2p.sg., delete the -š (but leave an è, if there was one before it)
in pl., change the last vocal of the ending to -a
in 1.p.sg., replace the -m in the ending with a -ne (deleting a preceding è if possible)
in 3.p.sg., replace the -j with -t
The forms are shown in the following tables (goti - to speak, mukti - to wash):
| goti | gosti | govati |
|---|---|---|---|
1.sg. | gone | godne | gojne |
2.sg. | go | gode | goje |
3.sg. | got | godet | govet |
1.pl. | goma | godma | gojma |
2.pl. | gota | godeta | gojta |
3.pl. | goja | goda | govaja |
| mukti | muci | mukvati |
|---|---|---|---|
1.sg. | mučne | muknene | mukane |
2.sg. | muče | mukne | muka |
3.sg. | mučet | muknet | mukat |
1.pl. | mučma | muknema | mukama |
2.pl. | mučta | mukneta | mukata |
3.pl. | muka | mukna | mukaja |
The imperative in 3.sg. and 3.pl. has a jussive or optative meaning "should/may he/they...". The 1.pl. has a hortative meaning (let us ...) and the 1.sg. has a permissive meaning "allow me to...".
Iza baknane, iza spárem Veseľ. Let me introduce myself, my name is Veseľ.
Muknet vrilkó izaré rapte. The kid should was its hands!
Pleňedma. Let's dance for a while.
Ne bakneta ľenu čilinu. Show (you-pl) me the new house.
Vrilka lej breda vzi pličľima. Children should go to sleep.
The consequences of the wish/exhortion not being fulfilled can be expressed with the conjunction utoč. The sentence after this conjunction must be in conditional.
Uleli kosemka utoč de viha pačkasti! Don't touch the dog, otherwise it will bite you.