What percentage of Russian verbs have the imperative mood (повелительное наклонение)?

Question

Most Russian verbs have imperative forms, but certain verbs may lack them or have irregular forms. This question explores how common the imperative mood is across Russian verbs and highlights key exceptions."

Answer 1

The vast majority of Russian verbs—around 99%—have forms in the imperative mood (повелительное наклонение). However, there are exceptions and nuances to consider:

1. Exceptions to Imperative Formation:
2. Verbs expressing states of being or natural phenomena (e.g., белеть 'to be white,' светать 'to dawn') often lack practical imperative forms, even if morphologically possible (e.g., *светай).
3. Modal verbs like хотеть ('to want') and мочь ('to be able') lack standard imperative forms, though related concepts can be expressed with other verbs (e.g., желай, сумей).
4. Colloquial and Irregular Imperatives:
5. Some imperatives, such as *ехай(те) from ехать, are common in spoken Russian but considered non-standard. Educated speakers prefer the perfective form (e.g., поезжай(те)).
6. Semantic Shifts:
7. Certain imperatives have evolved into unrelated meanings. For example, отстой (from отстоять, 'to defend') now commonly means 'sediment' or 'trash' in slang.