Dear Linguist List members,

While English imperatives normally do not contain a subject, it can be observed that imperatives with explicit subjects are also possible, as in Nobody move! and Don’t you talk to me like that!. However, when consulting the relevant literature, there is less agreement on

1) the kinds of subjects which are possible and
2) the pragmatic effects of explicit you-subjects

For the purposes of my PhD research I would like to compare and complement these views (and my own personal analysis of the data) with the opinions of native or near-native speakers of English. The link below provides access to a survey in which a selection of imperative sentences is listed, representing the problematical issues referred to above. I would really appreciate it if you could provide your own views and comments on these matters, by following the instructions on top of the survey. A summary will be posted afterwards.

Thank you very much in advance!

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