Imperatives and infinitives

Imperatives

The imperative is a grammatical mood that forms commands or direct requests.
It is used when the speaker is ordering or advising someone to do something.
A Latin imperative verb form generally ends with -e for singular and -te for plural in the 2nd person.
For example, ama (singular) and amate (plural) are the imperative forms of amo (I love), which mean ‘love!’ and ‘love (pl), you all!’ respectively.
Imperatives are only used in second person, never in first person (I / we) or third person (he / she / it / they).

The infinitive is a verb form that acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
The Latin infinitive ends in -re, such as amare (to love), capere (to take), regere (to rule).
Infinitives may be present (e.g. amare), perfect (e.g. amavisse), or future (e.g. amatūrum esse).
Present Infinitive is used with verbs of motion or verbs of compulsion, obligation or necessity.
Perfect infinitive is used to express completed action, while future infinitive expresses action yet to be completed.

Infinitive forms are often used to indicate purpose in Latin, while imperatives are used to direct or command action.
The order or sequence of action is clearly indicated in Latin using infinitives and imperatives.
Understanding the distinction between these two verb forms can greatly enhance reading accuracy and comprehension of any given Latin text.