What is the imperative?
Imperatives are used to give instructions or commands like: Go away! Come here! Don't do that!
There are THREE forms of the imperative in French:
1) tu - This is used when you are giving a command to a single person.
2) vous - This is used for giving instructions to a group or when the polite form is required.
3) nous - There is also a form of the imperative that corresponds to nous which is used in the way we use let’s in English for example: Mangeons! Let's eat!
Of the three forms of the imperative the tu and vous forms are used the most.
Forming the imperative:
For regular -IR and -RE verbs in French, the imperative is the same as the tu, nous and vous forms of the present tense, except that you do not say the pronouns tu, nous and vous.
For regular -ER verbs the same applies except in tu form of the imperative when the final -s is dropped.
For example:
The tu form of the verb manger to eat would be Mange! Eat!
Infinitive | Imperative - tu | Imperative - nous | Imperative - vous |
donner to give | Donne! Give! | Donnons... Let's give... | Donnez! Give! |
finir to finish | Finis! Finish! | Finissons... Let's finish... | Finissez! Finish! |
attendre to wait | Attend! Wait! | Attendons... Let's wait... | Attendez! Wait! |
Examples:
Donne-moi ça! Give me that!
Finissez vos devoirs. Finish your homework.
Attendons Maman. Let’s wait for Mum.
Also note:
When a tu form of the imperative comes before en or y, the final -s is kept to make the words easier to pronounce. In these examples the s is pronounced like the z in zebra:
Vas-y! Go on!
Donnes-en à ta sour. Give some to your sister.
Irregular imperatives
It just wouldn't be fun without some irregulars!
The verbs avoir (to have), être (to be), savoir (to know) vouloir (to want) have irregular imperative forms.
Infinitive | Imperative - tu | Imperative - Nous | Imperative - Vous |
avoir to have | aie | ayons | ayez |
être to be | sois | soyons | soyez |
savoir to know | sache | sachons | sachez |
vouloir to want | veuille | veuillons | veuillez |
Examples:
Sois sage. Be good.
Veuillez fermer la fenêtre. Please shut the window.
Marc, ayez confiance en vous. Have confidence in yourself, Marc. Sache que je t'aime. Know that I love you.
Negative commands in French
When giving a negative command or instructions in French, in other words, telling someone not to do something, you simply need to add ne and pas around the appropriate form of the imperative.
Examples:
Ne mange pas ça! Don't eat that!
N'écoutez pas! Don't listen!
Ne soyons pas trop strictes. Let's not be too strict.
And there you have it. You now know how to use the imperative in French. For more tips and practice questions check out my resources library. Bonne continuation...
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