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Can the よう ending be used for imperatives like て？

If so then can you show some examples?

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1 Answer

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Not exactly. The "～よう" conjugation is applied to 一段 verbs when forming the casual volitional form. Being the casual form, it doesn't mean "Shall we (speaker and listener) ..." so much as "We (speaker and listener) will ...".

食べよう
"We will eat."

寝よう
"We will sleep."

The proper imperative conjugation for 一段 verbs is of course "～ろう".

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I thought the casual volitional form can also perform the cohortative function of "let's (speaker and listener) do ~". – Flaw Oct 30 '11 at 3:20
Sure. But it's, well, less than polite about it. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Oct 30 '11 at 3:25
I'm not 100% sure but couldn't 食べようよ！ effectively be an imperative ordering multiple people to eat depending on the way it's said? – user797 Oct 30 '11 at 4:07
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It also implies that the speaker will eat as well though. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Oct 30 '11 at 4:08
@IgnacioVazquez-Abrams oops, yeah of course it does. I think it could be used as an imperative, but not in the way the questioner was asking. – user797 Oct 30 '11 at 4:21

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