French Imperative Mood: Giving Commands and Instructions

Getting Started — A Special Form for Giving Commands

After Question Formation, it’s time to learn how to tell someone to do something — commands like “Come here!”, “Listen!”, “Let’s go!”. French calls this the impératif, and it only exists for three subjects: tu, nous, vous.

Key point: The subject pronoun (tu/nous/vous) disappears from the sentence entirely — only the conjugated verb remains.

Connection: This lesson builds on the present tense of -ER, -IR, -RE verbs — the imperative comes straight from the present tense, just drop the subject.

A bridge from Punjabi and Hindi: the three French commands match the three you already use: ਆ / आ = viens (tu), ਆਓ / आओ = venez (vous, also to several people), ਚੱਲੀਏ / चलें = allons (nous, “let’s go”). In Punjabi and Hindi too, the command is the bare verb with no pronoun. The extra politeness (ਆਓ ਜੀ, आइए) has no single French word: French adds s’il vous plaît or turns the command into a question (Pouvez-vous…?).

1 How the Imperative Is Formed

Rule: Take the present tense, drop the subject pronoun. For -ER verbs (and ‘aller’), also drop the final ‘-s’ from the tu-form.

PARLER (-ER verb)

FINIR (-IR verb)

ATTENDRE (-RE verb)

Note! Only -ER loses the ‘s’: “tu parles” → “Parle!” (the ‘s’ disappears), but “tu finis” → “Finis!” and “tu attends” → “Attends!” keep their ‘s’. This is a rule specific to -ER verbs.

2 Three Irregular Imperatives

The imperatives of être, avoir, and savoir don’t come from the present tense — they have to be memorized:

• “Sois sage!” → Be good!
• “N’ayez pas peur!” → Don’t be afraid!
• “Sachez que je suis là.” → Know that I’m here.

3 Negative Imperative

Put ‘ne’ before the verb and ‘pas’ after — exactly like Negation:

4 Imperative of Pronominal Verbs

For Pronominal Verbs (reflexive), the imperative attaches the pronoun after the verb with a hyphen, and ‘te’ becomes ‘toi’:

Note: In the positive, the pronoun comes after with a hyphen; in the negative, the pronoun comes before as usual — this is the rule most often forgotten.

5 Where the Simple Rule Breaks

An object pronoun after the verb joins it with a hyphen, and me/te become moi/toi: Écoutez-moi ! The full set of pronoun orders (Donne-le-moi !) is in Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns.

Real Examples

1. Everyday Commands

• “Écoute!” → Listen! (to a friend)
• “Regardez ça!” → Look at that! (formal/plural)
• “Fais attention!” → Be careful! / Pay attention!

2. Giving Instructions

• “Tournez à gauche.” → Turn left. (directions, common on forms/signs)
• “Remplissez le formulaire.” → Fill in the form.
• “Ne fumez pas ici.” → Don’t smoke here.

3. Making Suggestions with ‘nous’

• “Allons-y!” → Let’s go!
• “Mangeons maintenant.” → Let’s eat now.
• “Ne partons pas encore.” → Let’s not leave yet.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

Practice

A. Form the imperative. Write the missing word

B. Negatives and pronouns. Write the missing word

C. Who is being told? Write the missing word

Your Turn

Task (TEF/TCF Expression Orale, Section A): a visitor phones your clinic and asks how to get there from the bus stop. Give directions with at least five imperatives (vous), then give a friend three pieces of advice for the same visit (tu). Speak for 50–70 words.

Moving Forward

Today’s takeaway: You can now give commands, instructions, and suggestions — useful for asking directions, filling out forms, and everyday conversation. Next, we’ll learn:

• Object pronouns (le, la, les, lui, leur) — for shortening long answers
• Comparative and Superlative (plus… que, le plus)

Your challenge: Every day, form 5 commands in the tu-form — using different verbs like parler, finir, attendre — to lock in the ‘-s’ rule.