The imperative verb forms are used to give orders or advice, to urge strongly, and to exhort. It is a simple tense—in the sense that it isn’t compound—and has only one form, the present. Furthermore, you can address your command only to an informal form of "you": tu or voi, depending on whether you are talking to one or more people.

When conjugating a first-conjugation Italian verb, the familiar singular (tu) command is the same as the third-person singular (Lei) form of the present indicative, and the plural voi command is the same as the voi form of the present indicative (see the table below).

FIRST-CONJUGATION VERB IMPERATIVES
 
INFINITIVE
 TU
 VOI
 
cantare
 Canta!
 Cantate!
 
mangiare
 Mangia!
 Mangiate!
 
parlare
 Parla!
 Parlate!
 

The familiar commands for regular -ere and -ire verbs are the same as the tu and voi forms of the present indicative (see the table below).

SECOND- AND THIRD-CONJUGATION

VERB IMPERATIVES
 
INFINITIVE
 TU
 VOI
 
dormire
 Dormi!
 Dormite!
 
finire
 Finisci!
 Finite!
 
pulire
 Pulisci!
 Pulite!
 
salire
 Sali!
 Salite!
 
scrivere
 Scrivi!
 Scrivete!
 
vendere
 Vendi!
 Vendete!