Meaning of Imperative | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The grammatical mood expressing an order (see jussive). In English, the imperative form of a verb is the same as that of the bare infinitive.
   uncountable
2. A verb in the imperative mood.
   countable
3. An essential action, a must: something which is imperative.
   countable

Equivalents

Examples

“The verbs in sentences like "Do it!" and "Say what you like!" are in the imperative.”

“Visiting Berlin is an imperative.”

“Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat and banal when it reaches English, partly because translators get stuck between contradictory imperatives: juggling fidelity to the original sense with what is vocally viable, they tend to resort to a genteel fustian which lacks either poetic resonance or demotic realism, adding to a sense of artificiality rather than enhancing credibility.”

“The new imperative for investment is the Government's objective to secure carbon-neutral transport emissions by 2040.”

CEFR level