ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the analytical puzzle that formal imperatives pose for English syntax. An analysis within Minimalist Program assumptions was then proposed for imperative word order which highlighted the similarities and differences between the syntax of imperatives and finite clauses. The chapter considers a structure for formal imperatives. It addresses two specific issues: the existence and location of a subject position in formal imperatives and the positions of do and not. The chapter offers a formal analysis of imperative word order within the Minimalist Program and Checking Theory. It also considers the issue of where the subject position is in formal imperatives. It provides new data that determine the extent to which an overt subject is ever permitted, a possibility completely denied by all researchers and one that is most clearly ruled out by a Case-based analysis of formal imperatives.
