Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Meeting The Deku Tree/Grammar

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The Informal Imperative[edit]

We seen earlier an imperative command using ~なさい. Today, we will see another, much stonger imperative.

For Group 1 verbs (う Verbs, 五段), change the verb to base 5 (命令形) (ends in an え sound, just like for the conditional form ~ば):

  • 書く =>  書け
  • 読む =>   読め
  • 死ぬ =>  死ね 

For Group 2 verbs (る verbs, 一段), you also change the verb to base 5, but you must add ろ/よ.

  • 食べる => 食べろ
  • 寝る => 寝よ

Whether you use ろ or よ is mostly a question of dialect/preference. よ sounds slighlty softer. Verbs する and くる become しろ and こい. Note: 命令形 can mean both the "grammatical Base 5 form" and "imperative form" of a verb. The grammatical base is used for conjugation and ends on 〜エ (eg 食べ、寝(ね)), while the imperative form refers to the verb completely conjugated and ready to be used as a command(eg with ろ/よ tacked on).

It is possible you won't hear this used in real life, and only see it in games/mangas/animes, etc. It is quite rude.


We seen this type of imperative in one sentence:

  • 妖精ナビィ…リンクの力となれ…

(Fairy Navi, become Link's strength...)

The causative form[edit]

The causative, expressing things such as "to cause to...", "to make someone do something" etc. To form the causative, change the verb to base 1 (未然形) (just like the base for the negating form ~ない) and add, depending of the verb type:

For Group 1 verbs (う Verbs, 五段), add -せる

  • 書く =>  書かせる
  • 読む =>   読ませる
  • 死ぬ =>  死なせる

For Group 2 verbs (る verbs, 一段), add -させる.

  • 食べる => 食べさせる
  • 寝る => 寝させる

As a rule of thumb, remember there must be an both an a-sound and a せる. (The same goes for the passive/potential.)

It was used in the following sentence:

  • リンクよ…今、ここでお前の勇気を試(ため)させて欲(ほ)しい…

Link, I want to have your courage tested here.