Learning the French Imperative (Imperatif)

Reading time: 3 minutes Difficulty: Beginner

Imagine a world where there are no commands or orders being issued. Well yeah, that’s right, you can’t. Whether you’re the one giving the orders or being given the orders, these things are all inexplicably intertwined with human nature and everyday living.

To issue commands or give instructions, we use the imperative form of the verb. We use the imperative day in and day out, and these words are quite often inescapable – from the moment you wake up until the day ends. 

“wake up!”

“go to work!”

“hurry up!”

“shut the door!”

“work on this project”

“sit down”

“meet me at 8”

“turn off the lights”

“go to bed now”

… and so many things in between.

Other uses of the imperative are:

• to express a desire (which is still basically a form of issuing a command, only said a lot nicer)
• to make a request (a very very polite kind of command)
• to give advice (still a form of command if we come to think of it)
• to recommend something (yup, still a command)  

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN USING THE IMPERATIVE

• There are two often-used forms of the French imperative, and these correspond to tu and vous. The third form nous is only being used sometimes, and it works the same way we say “let’s” in English.

• Unlike the other verb forms and grammatical moods, the imperative does not use subject pronouns. Instead, object pronouns are being used.

• To form the present tense imperative, you simply use the present indicative forms for tu, nous, and vous, but these pronouns are no longer being mentioned.

Example for -er verbs: donner

tu            —–>    donne

nous      —–>     donnons

vous       —–>     donnez 

Donne-moi ça! (Give me that!) 

Note: In the tu form of -er verbs, the last -s is dropped (i.e. donne instead of donnes). But when tu is followed by en or y, the -s remains to make it easier to pronounce. (example: Vas-y! Which means  “Go on!” or Donnes-en à ton frère which means “Give some to your brother.”) 

Example for -ir verbs: finir

tu             —–> finis

nous      —–>finissons

vous       —–>finissez

Finissez vos devoirs. (Finish your homework.)

Example for -re verbs: attendre

tu             —–>attends

nous      —–>attendons

vous       —–>attendez

Attendons le bus. (Let’s wait for the bus.)

• There are two kinds of commands where the imperative is being used. These are the affirmative commands and the negative commands. In English, the affirmative command would be like “do this!” while the negative command is the opposite “don’t do that!” In French, the object pronoun which accompanies the imperative changes its position depending on the kind of command being issued.

FOR AFFIRMATIVE COMMANDS, THE OBJECT PRONOUNS COME AFTER THE VERB.

The verb and the pronoun are then linked together with a hyphen.

Examples: 

Excusez-moi. (Excuse me.)

Aide-nous. (Help us.)

So, remember:

FOR NEGATIVE COMMANDS, THE OBJECT PRONOUNS COME BEFORE THE VERB.

Ne… pas is used in this case.

Examples: 

Ne leur parlons pas. (Don’t speak to them.)

Ne le regardez pas. (Don’t look at him/it.)

Again, remember:

• There are cases when both direct and indirect object pronouns are present. During these scenarios, the DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS always come BEFORE the INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS.

Examples:

Donnez-la-nous! (Give it to us!)

Prête-les-moi! (Lend them to me!)

Remember:

• The irregular verbs avoir, être, savoir and vouloir have their own imperative forms. These are the following:

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