You don't say! (imperative)

Question

How do we distinguish between the imperative and the negative?

- He's lost his job.
- You don't say!

- Would you mind if I smoke here?
- You don't smoke!

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- John was wondering why I didn't want to stay in the smoking room.
- You don't smoke!

Clive · Accepted Answer

How do we distinguish between the imperative and the negative?

- He's lost his job.
- You don't say! This is a fixed, idiomatic expression that is used to express surprise.I don't hear it very often in modern English.

- Would you mind if I smoke here?
- You don't smoke! This is not in the form of an imperative. Imperatives would be Smoke! or Don't smoke!

If you say You don't smoke! it sounds like you are telling the listener that he doesn't use cigarettes. I don't know why you would tell someone this except in some uncommon context.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

russian80How do we distinguish between the imperative and the negative?

The different types of sentences are:

Declarative
Interrogative
Imperative
Exclamatory

Any of these sentence types can be positive or negative.

An imperative sentence makes a demand or request.
Usually the subject (you) is not explicit; it is understood. An imperative sentence can end with an exclamation point if it is spoken with emotion.

Examples:

Please don't smoke here. (Imperative, negative)
Go home! (Imperative, positive)
Put out that cigarette! (Imperative)

An exclamatory sentence is a declarative sentence that is spoken with emotion. It ends with an exclamation point.
You don't say!
That's cool!
Let's get out of here, fast!

Resource: http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/exclamatory_sentence.htm

You don't say! (imperative)

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