Addressing someone rather than describing a fact
A negative imperative is a direct address: the speaker asks someone not to perform an action. The addressee can be one person or a group; the simple sentence form does not change.
Compare the instruction Don’t stand here with the statement I don’t stand here. The second describes the speaker’s action rather than instructing the listener.
Don't stand here.
Don't stand here.
The speaker addresses one or more listeners.
I don't stand here.
I don't stand here.
The subject I makes this a statement about oneself.
The base form after don’t
Take the simple verb form: go, open, touch, wait. Put don’t before it. Do not add to or the endings -s or -ing to this verb.
In this ordinary English instruction, a separate Not before the verb is not the way to express negation.
Don’t + base form of the verb + rest of the sentence
- verb / V —
- A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.
- V1 / base form —
- The base verb without to: work, go, be.
Don't open this box.
Don't open this box.
Don’t is followed by open, without to or endings.
Don't go outside.
Don't go outside.
Go remains in its base form.
Be needs don’t too
For a state or behaviour, use don’t be. After don’t, the required form is be, not am, is or are.
An adjective does not replace a verb: be is needed between don’t and late, afraid or rude. Rude means impolite or offensive in behaviour.
Don’t + be + adjective
- adjective —
- A word describing what someone or something is like: happy, tired, interesting.
Don't be rude.
Don't be rude.
Be is needed regardless of the number of addressees.
Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
Afraid is an adjective; be connects it to don’t.
Don’t and do not: the same negative meaning, different styles
Don’t is a contraction of do not. The contracted form is common in conversation; the full form often appears in official instructions and notices.
The full form does not make a sentence more grammatical, nor does the contraction make it incorrect. If an exercise asks for one form, that is an exercise condition, not a ban on the other form in the language.
Do not use this door.
Do not use this door.
The full form suits a written notice.
Don't use this door.
Don't use this door.
The same meaning in a common conversational form.
Requests, warnings and reassurance
An imperative is not always a strict order. Don’t worry can reassure, and Don’t forget can remind. Context indicates the intention.
Please helps soften a request. It can come at the beginning or end; it need not be added to every sentence. A short direct utterance is natural for an urgent warning. Tone of voice and the relationship between people matter too.
Please don't close the window.
Please don't close the window.
Initial please softens the request.
Don't close the window, please.
Don't close the window, please.
Please can also appear at the end.
Don't worry. I'm here.
Don't worry. I'm here.
This offers support rather than imposing a rule or punishment.
Don't touch the pan! It's hot.
Don't touch the pan! It's hot.
The danger explains the brief warning without please.
Other correct ways to express a prohibition
Don’t + verb is the main pattern in this lesson, but not the only way to express English negation. Never + base verb extends the prohibition to every occasion. No smoking and No parking use another construction: No + -ing form.
The subject is normally unexpressed in a simple imperative. However, Nobody move! and Don’t you worry! are possible constructions, not automatic errors.
Fear not! is a literary or solemn expression meaning “do not be afraid”. For ordinary conversation, we practise Don’t be afraid here. Do not transfer the word order of a rare expression to every verb.
Never open this gate.
Never open this gate.
Never makes the prohibition broader; the absence of don’t is not an error.
No parking.
No parking.
A natural notice, but not the don’t + verb pattern.
Nobody move!
Nobody move!
The negative subject nobody already expresses negation.
Don't you worry!
Don't you worry!
The subject you can add emphasis.
Fear not!
Fear not!
A possible literary expression, not a model for a neutral everyday instruction.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:Don't to enter this room.
Correct:Don't enter this room.
After don’t in a simple imperative, use enter without to.
Incorrect:Don't opens the box.
Correct:Don't open the box.
Do not add -s: the addressee does not change the base form open.
Incorrect:Don't are late.
Correct:Don't be late.
After don’t, use the base form be, not are.
Incorrect:Not open the door.
Correct:Don't open the door.
For the ordinary standalone instruction “do not open”, open needs don’t before it, not a separate not.
Sources
- Cambridge English Grammar Today — Imperative clauses (the source review read the full relevant text through the search index)
- Cambridge Grammar of English — §§293a–b, 435d (the source review read the PDF directly)
- British Council LearnEnglish Kids — Imperatives
- Cambridge Dictionary — no smoking
- Cambridge Dictionary — no
- Merriam-Webster — fear not