The Present Imperative in French

The Present Imperative in French

The impératif(imperative) is a mode(mood) used to give commands or express desires. The imperative almost always occurs in the present tense, known as the présent de l'impératif(present imperative). Take a look at the following examples of the French present imperative.

You'll notice that, just like in English, the subject is left off in the imperative!

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Imperative in French

The conjugations for the present imperative are largely the same as the présent de l'indicatif(present indicative). This means that as far as conjugations themselves go, there really isn't much extra work you have to do!

Unlike the indicative, the imperative can be conjugated for only three persons: tu(you), nous(we), and vous(you or you-all). To form the imperative, you take the exact same conjugations you learned for the present indicative, but with a catch! If the tu form ends in an -es, you remove the final -s. This rule applies to all -er verbs, as well as the irregular verb aller(to go). Just like in English, you drop the subject, and voilà, you have the imperative!

Forming the Present Imperative from the Present Indicative

-ER Verbs in the Present Imperative

Let's have a look at an -er verb like écouter(to listen):

Écouter in the Present Imperative

Notice that the final -s of the tu form is removed from the present indicative to form the imperative. The nous and vous forms for both moods are exactly the same (but without the subject in the imperative).

If a verb is considered irregular in the present indicative, it takes the same irregular conjugations in the imperative! This is the case for the irregular verb aller(to go):

Aller in the Present Imperative

Aller loses its final -s in the tu form just like all other -er verbs.

Remember that the final -s is not removed when it directly precedes y or en. Compare the following:

-IR Verbs in the Present Imperative

Let's now look at an -ir verb like choisir(to choose). You'll notice that all three persons in the present imperative match the present indicative (but of course without the subject in the imperative!).

Choisir in the Present Imperative

Because the tu form does not end in an -es, we do not remove the final -s!

Note that not all -ir verbs in the present indicative are conjugated like choisir. A verb like découvrir(to discover) is an irregular -ir verb whose endings resemble -er verbs.

Découvrir in the Present Imperative

Because the tu form ends in an -es, we have to remove the final -s (just like for -er verbs).

-RE Verbs in the Present Imperative

Finally, let's look at an -re verb. The present indicative conjugations of descendre(to go down/to get down) exactly match the present imperative conjugations!

Descendre in the Present Imperative

Exceptions

Luckily, there are only four verbs whose present imperative conjugations are completely different from their present indicative conjugations: avoir(to have), être(to be), savoir(to know), and vouloir(to want). Let’s take a look at these exceptional verbs!

Exceptional Verbs in the Present Imperative

The Verb Vouloir

Although the verb vouloir is hardly used in the affirmative imperative, the vous form (veuillez) is often used to form polite, formal commands. It's followed by an infinitive and may be translated as please in English.

Object Pronouns in the Affirmative Imperative in French

You may have noticed that object pronouns usually precede the verb in French. For example, in the dialogue below, Francine asks Clara if she wants la dernière part du gâteau(the last piece of cake). Clara responds with the following in the indicative:

Notice that the object pronoun la(it) precedes the verb veux(want) . Since Clara decides she wants the last piece of cake, Francine responds with the imperative:

Here, the object pronoun la follows the verb (just like in English) and is attached to it with a trait d'union(hyphen). The affirmative imperative is the only time object pronouns follow the verb!

The object pronouns that can attach themselves to the right of the affirmative imperative verb with a hyphen include the following:

• direct object pronouns,
• indirect object pronouns,
• the pronoun y,
• the pronoun en.

The (in)direct object pronouns me(me; to me) and te(you; to you) are a bit special in the affirmative imperative since they always appear in either their contracted or stressed forms.

Pronominal Verbs

The reflexive pronoun of pronominal verbs follows the verb (just as you'd expect based on the rules above) and agrees in person and number with the subject. This means a pronominal verb like se lever(to stand up) would be conjugated in the affirmative imperative in the following way:

Se Lever in the Present Imperative

The Order of Multiple Object Pronouns

Although more than one object pronoun can be attached to the right of the affirmative imperative, they can't go in any old order! If there are two or more object pronouns, the direct object comes before the indirect object, and y and en must come last (and in that order): direct object pronoun + indirect object pronoun + y + en.

Francine asks Clara if she wants la télécommande(the remote). Clara responds with the following:

In Clara's response, la is the direct object, and moi is the indirect object. The order must then be la-moi. (Note that moi is in its stressed form!)

Let's look at one final example, which includes the pronoun en. Francine asks Clara if she wants du pain(some bread). Clara responds with the following:

Here, the indirect object pronoun me must come before the pronoun en, and in doing so, it must also contract to m'.