An introduction to Japanese - Syntax, Grammar & Language

3.2. FURTHER INFLECTIONS 129

verb imperative form

verb imperative form alternative form

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What is the difference between these two forms for verbs? In
standard Japanese, the - imperative is a true command. If someone says
, you look. The second is more of an instruction than a command.
For instance, if you’re browsing though a dictionary and there a footnote
telling you to see page 214 for further information, this will typically use
, rather than. However, this distinction only applies to standard

Japanese, or
, which is the ”dialect” spoken in the
region,
which is where Tokyo lies. North of this region, the - form is typically
used to issue imperatives, whereas South of this region the - form tends
to be used instead.

Not unexpectedly, the irregular verbs have their own :

verb imperative alternative

To illustrate the use of the imperative command, some example sen-