In this section:

• formation of the imperative

• irregular imperatives

• imperative of pronominal verbs

• negative commands

• pronoun object with imperative

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 of the imperative

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.

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:

When these forms are followed by the pronoun y or en, the -s is reattached for pronunciation purposes. For example:

irregular imperatives

There are several verbs that have irregular imperative forms.

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.

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.

pronoun object with imperative

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.

Listen to the following dialogue: