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French 2 Unit 8: The Imperative

The imperative gives commands, instructions and advice: Écoute ! Allons-y ! Asseyez-vous. It has only three forms, but pronoun placement and a few irregular verbs make it a frequent test topic.

Covers: Tu, nous and vous command forms, Dropping the s in -er tu commands, Irregular imperatives (être, avoir, savoir), Negative commands, Pronouns with affirmative commands, Reflexive verbs in commands, Polite alternatives to the imperative

Study guide

The imperative has three forms, based on the present tense of tu, nous and vous, used without the subject pronoun. Finir: finis, finissons, finissez. Attendre: attends, attendons, attendez. Faire: fais, faisons, faites. The nous form means "Let's ...": Partons ! (Let's leave!). The vous form is used for a group or for one person you address formally. Because there is no subject, the verb form alone tells you who is being addressed: Viens ici (to a friend) versus Venez ici (to a group or a stranger).

For -er verbs, and for verbs conjugated like them such as ouvrir, offrir and souffrir, the tu command drops the final s of the present tense: tu parles → Parle ! tu manges → Mange ! tu ouvres → Ouvre la porte ! Aller follows this rule too: tu vas → Va ! The s comes back before the pronouns y and en for easier pronunciation: Vas-y ! Manges-en ! Verbs from other groups keep their s: Finis tes devoirs ! Prends ton manteau ! Dors bien !

Four verbs have irregular imperatives that come from the subjunctive. Être: sois, soyons, soyez (Sois sage ! Soyez prudents !). Avoir: aie, ayons, ayez (N'aie pas peur ! Ayez de la patience). Savoir: sache, sachons, sachez. Vouloir is used almost only as veuillez, a very polite formula on signs and in letters: Veuillez patienter (Please wait). To make any command negative, put ne before the verb and pas after it: Ne parle pas ! Ne soyez pas en retard ! N'oublions pas les billets !

Object pronouns behave differently in commands. In an affirmative command, pronouns follow the verb and are joined with hyphens: Regarde-le ! Téléphonez-lui ! Prends-en ! Vas-y ! Me and te become moi and toi at the end: Donne-moi ton livre. Aide-moi ! But in a negative command, pronouns go back in front of the verb in their normal form and order: Ne le regarde pas ! Ne lui téléphonez pas ! Ne me donne pas ton livre. With two pronouns in an affirmative command, the direct object comes first: Donne-le-moi ! Montrez-la-leur ! Y and en come last: Donnez-m'en (moi becomes m' before en).

Reflexive verbs follow the same rules, so the reflexive pronoun follows the verb in the affirmative and comes before it in the negative. Se lever: Lève-toi ! Levons-nous ! Levez-vous ! but Ne te lève pas ! Ne vous levez pas ! Other common ones are Dépêche-toi (hurry up), Assieds-toi / Asseyez-vous (sit down), Tais-toi (be quiet), Amusez-vous bien (have fun) and Calme-toi (calm down). Because direct commands can sound abrupt, French often softens them: Pourriez-vous m'aider ? Tu peux fermer la porte, s'il te plaît ? Il faut + infinitive and the infinitive alone (Ne pas fumer) are also used for instructions and signs.

Key ideas

• The imperative uses the tu, nous and vous present forms without subject pronouns.
• The nous imperative means "Let's ...".
• -er verbs and aller drop the s in the tu command, except before y or en.
• Être, avoir, savoir and vouloir have irregular imperatives.
• In affirmative commands, pronouns follow the verb with hyphens, and me/te become moi/toi.
• In negative commands, pronouns return to their normal place before the verb.
• Reflexive verbs follow the same placement rules: Lève-toi ! / Ne te lève pas !

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Keeping the s on an -er tu command, as in *Parles plus fort !
• Using me after the verb, as in *Donne-me le livre instead of Donne-moi le livre.
• Putting pronouns after the verb in a negative command, as in *Ne regarde-le pas.
• Using regular forms for être and avoir, as in *Es sage ! or *Ayes patience !
• Keeping the subject pronoun, as in *Tu mange ! or *Vous asseyez !

Before the test, make sure you can

• Form tu, nous and vous commands of regular and common irregular verbs.
• Drop the s in -er tu commands and restore it before y and en.
• Use the irregular imperatives of être, avoir and savoir.
• Form negative commands with ne ... pas.
• Place object pronouns after affirmative commands, using moi and toi.
• Place object pronouns before the verb in negative commands.
• Give commands with reflexive verbs in both affirmative and negative.
• Soften requests with pourriez-vous, veuillez or s'il te plaît.

Words to know

écoutez

listen

répétez

repeat

ouvrez vos livres

open your books

levez la main

raise your hand

tais-toi

be quiet

asseyez-vous

sit down

tournez à gauche

turn left

tournez à droite

turn right

allez tout droit

go straight

traversez la rue

cross the street

continuez

keep going

prenez la première rue

take the first street

sois prudent(e)

be careful

n'aie pas peur

don't be afraid

dépêche-toi

hurry up

calme-toi

calm down

veuillez

please (formal)

s'il te plaît

please (informal)

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.