“Back Sea !”

We often go down to the beach and command the sea to retreat.

Long ago there a king called King Canute. English legend has it that he was so convinced of his Regal powers that he sat on his throne on the beach at low tide, and told the sea not to rise. “Back Sea !” he commanded as the sea lapped around his ankles. The sea continued to rise, and the king’s desperate attempt to rule it by repeating “Back Sea, Back Sea!”, were of course doomed to failure.

The legend ends with King Canute drowning at high tide. In reality he probably gave up before being fully submerged. Either way, it demonstrates the use of the imperative in the English language, and the stupidity of royals.

The imperative is a grammatical construct that is used for a command or request. Kings and Emperors and other rulers do it all the time. So do parents e.g.

Eat that up

Clean your room

Go to bed

Don’t go near the fire!

These are all commands we’ve heard (or given) from time to time. The verb in the imperative form is the base form and usually at the beginning of the sentence. Here are some other examples of the imperative.

Look into my eyes

Enroll in one of my courses
Learn English with me

Like ‘English Language Homestay Tuition” on Facebook.

Tell all your friends how helpful you found this

That’s enough hypnosis for now!