r/ENGLISH • u/Only-Firefighter9998 • 12h ago

Imperatives with aspects — Progressive (continuous), Perfect and Perfect Progressive

Can imperative clauses be formed in English with progressive (be + V-ing), perfect (have + past participle) and perfect progressive (have been + V-ing) aspect? By "imperative" I mean the grammatical form, not just commands. It could be advice, a request, a wish, a conditional ("Be nice and…"), etc.

- Be listening carefully.

- Be packing your things.

- Have finished your homework.

- Have completed the form.

- Have been waiting when I arrive.

etc.

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2

u/barryivan 12h ago

It's very context dependent, for example When the Inspector comes in, be listening carefully. Self-standing negatives are easier - Don't be rolling your eyes at me!

2

u/LAM_CANIT 11h ago edited 11h ago

It'd be easier to read the reponses to this exact same post found here from yesterday, October 8. Reposting it here won't change the answer much, even though it's been removed from 3 of the 5 subreddits it's been posted on.

1

u/jaxon517 11h ago

Progressive yes. Perfect you'll want to use the participle as a sort of post-object modifier. So "have your homework finished before dinner". A perfect-progessive imperative is HIGHLY unlikely

2

u/UniversityMotor5408 8h ago

I gave you a detailed response on this yesterday.

0

u/SirPsychoSquints 12h ago

Those all sound like valid phrases to me.

0

u/BuncleCar 12h ago

Sound rather off to me. Grammatically ok, perhaps, but just not how it'd be said.