The imperative sentences with let in the English language: their distinctive features and counterparts in Albanian language

Abstract

In this paper we aim at making a comparative study of the imperative sentences with let in the English language and their counterparts in Albanian.  Studies on the imperative sentences interpretation have generally been carried out in the later periods of the linguistic studies. Initially, imperative sentences have been studied within the framework of linguistic concepts of the morphological aspect such as: the moods of the verbs and their morphological expression.

 The utterance of imperative sentences is addressed to the listener or listeners and accordingly, it refers to the second person, a phenomenon which typifies the imperative sentences in several languages. However, the imperative shades of meaning can also be addressed to the first person singular or plural or even third person, through a particular subtype of the imperative paradigm built with the verb let. These verb forms (let + me / him / her / us / them) are defined in the English language as combined forms and entail some restrictions in the aspect of the semantics of sentences.

In the respective sentences in Albanian language they are expressed with a verb in the subjunctive mood proceeded by the particle Le, which may also be removed without a change in meaning. The use of this particle before the main verb as a predicate in the subjunctive mood has almost weakened the relevant lexical meaning of this particle.

From the semantic point of view, the imperative sentences with Let, either in English or Albanian language are distinguished for their less imperative and directive shades of meaning (request, suggestion etc.) compared to the common imperative sentences which express orders, commands and instructions. The frequency of the use of imperative sentences with Let is greater compared to other structural types of imperative sentences, particularly in the spoken discourse.