L'imperatif

L'impératif
The imperative, (l'impératif in French) is used to give commands, orders, or

express wishes, like 'Stop!', 'Listen!' You may recognize the imperative from
commands such as 'Ecoutez' or 'Répétez'. It is one of four moods in the
French language. Unlike the other moods, the imperative is not divided into
tenses. Keep in mind that the imperative is a very direct way to give an
order. It is often replaced with more polite alternatives like the conditional.
formation
There are three forms of the imperative: tu, nous and vous. For all verbs,
the imperative is formed by taking the corresponding forms of the present
indicative, but without subject pronouns. The lack of a subject pronoun is
what identifies the imperative mood.
finir 'to finish'
present imperative translation
tu finis finis finish (you,
familiar)
nous finissons finissons let's finish
vous finissez finissez finish
The tu form is used to give an order to a child or when the speaker is on

familiar terms with the person addressed. The vous form is used to give an
order to a group of people or to address one person in the vous form.
The nous form is used to give an order that involves oneself as well as
others, though it often expresses a suggestion as its translation (Let's ... )
indicates.
Drop the final s in the tu forms of the imperative for -er verbs,

including aller, and -ir verbs like ouvrir and other verbs whose present
indicative form of tu ends in -es:

tu regardes regarde look
tu ouvres ouvre open
tu vas va go
When these forms are followed by the pronoun y or en, the -s is reattached

for pronunciation purposes. For example:
Corey: Bette, va au Corey: Bette, go to the

supermarché! Vas-y! supermarket! Go there! And
Et achète de l'insecticide buy some insecticide for me

pour moi ... Tu ... Do you hear me? Buy
m'entends? Achètes-en pour some for me!
moi!
Bette: Imbécile, l'insecticide Bette: Imbecile, insecticide
est dangereux pour les is dangerous for
cafards! Paf! cockroaches! Pow!
Corey: Oh, Bette ... aide- Corey: Oh, Bette, help me
moi à me relever, s'il te back up, please.
plaît.
Bette: Tu es vraiment trop Bette: You are really too

bête. Je m'en vais. stupid. I'm leaving.
irregular imperatives
There are several verbs that have irregular imperative forms.
avoir être savoir vouloir

aie sois sache veuille
ayons soyons sachons veuillons
ayez soyez sachez veuillez
imperative of pronominal verbs

For pronominal verbs, the subject pronoun is dropped and the object
pronoun is placed after the verb and is attached with a
hyphen. Te becomes toi in this situation.
se souvenir 'to remember'
tu te souviens souviens-toi remember
nous nous souvenons-nous let's remember
souvenons
vous vous souvenez-vous remember
souvenez
negative commands
The forms of the affirmative imperative (an order to do something) have
been presented in the above charts. In negative commands (an
order not to do something), place the ne ... pas around the imperative, as
in Ne regarde pas ('Don't look'). In negative commands for reflexive verbs,
the object pronoun is placed in front of the verb.
Corey: Ne te moque pas de Corey: Don't make fun of

moi! me!
Joe-Bob: Ne nous moquons Joe-Bob: Let's not make fun

pas de Corey! of Corey!
pronoun object with imperatives

Other non-pronominal pronoun objects follow the same placement as objects
of pronominal verbs. As usual, the subject pronoun is dropped. In the
negative, the ne precedes the object pronoun and the verb. In the
affirmative imperative, the pronoun object follows the verb, and the
forms moi and toi replace me and te.
Corey: Aidez-moi, aidez- Corey: Help me, help me! I

moi! Je n'arrive pas à me can't get back up.
relever.
Joe-Bob: Retournons-le! Alle Joe-Bob: Let's turn him.
z, un, deux, trois ... Let's go, one, two, three ...

Doucement, doucement. Ne Slowly, slowly. Don't do it
le faites pas trop vite! too fast!
Listen to the following dialogue:

Corey: Merci, tout le Corey: Thanks, everybody.
monde. Ça va beaucoup That's much better. Let's go

mieux. Allons à Barton to Barton Springs this
Springs cet après-midi. afternoon.
Joe-Bob: D'accord, Tammy: Okay, but listen,
mais écoute, d'abord je dois first I have to put on my
mettre mon maillot. swimsuit.
Corey: Oui, bien sûr, Tex: Yes, of course, but

mais dépêche-toi. hurry.
Joe-Bob: J'arrive. N'oublions Joe-Bob: I'm coming. Let's
pas l'insecticide. Il y a tant not forget the insecticide.

d'insectes empoisonnants There are so many irritating
en ce moment! insects now.
Corey: Eh moi alors? Corey: And me?
Joe-Bob: Oh, pas toi, Corey. Joe-Bob: Oh, not you,
Tu n'es jamais Corey. You are never
empoisonnant! irritating!

L'imperatif

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L'impératif

The imperative, (l'impératif in French) is used to give commands, orders, or

The tu form is used to give an order to a child or when the speaker is on

Drop the final s in the tu forms of the imperative for -er verbs,

present imperative translation

When these forms are followed by the pronoun y or en, the -s is reattached

Corey: Bette, va au Corey: Bette, go to the

avoir être savoir vouloir

imperative of pronominal verbs

Corey: Ne te moque pas de Corey: Don't make fun of

pronoun object with imperatives

Corey: Aidez-moi, aidez- Corey: Help me, help me! I

Listen to the following dialogue:

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