An explanation of how the imperative form of a verb is used.
The imperative is used to order or instruct someone to do something. For example:
Tournez à droite. – Turn right.
Ferme la porte. – Close the door.
The imperative is only used in the tu, vous and nous forms. It is usually formed using the present tenseA verb that describes an action that is happening now or that happens regularly, eg I eat breakfast every day. of the verb.
Aller
Imperative
English
tu vas
Vas
Go
vous allez
Allez
Go
nous allons
Allons
Let’s go
Aller
tu vas
Imperative
Vas
English
Go
Aller
vous allez
Imperative
Allez
English
Go
Aller
nous allons
Imperative
Allons
English
Let’s go
For the imperative tu form of regular -er verbs, remove the -s from the present tense verb. For example:
Tu manges becomes mange (eat).
To add a pronounWords that replace nouns, ie he, she, it, they., eg to say ‘eat it’ or ‘call her’, use a hyphen and place the pronoun after the imperative. For example:
Mange-le (Eat it – in the tu form)
Appelez-la (Call her – in the vous form)
Regardons-les (Let’s watch them)
With reflexive verbThese are verbs where the action is done to the same person who is doing it, eg I wash myself. in an imperative, the reflexive pronounA pronoun used with a reflexive verb, such as 'myself', 'yourself' and 'himself'. is still needed, but tu becomes toi and the reflexive pronoun goes after the verb with a hyphen. For example:
tu te lèves becomes lève-toi (get up)
vous vous levez becomes levez-vous (get up)
nous nous levons becomes levons-nous (let’s get up)
Some verbs are irregularSomething that does not follow regular patterns and may have a different form. in the imperative. For example:
être (to be) becomes sois, soyez and soyons
avoir (to have) becomes aie, ayez and ayons
savoir (to know) becomes sache, sachez and sachons
With a negative imperative, the ne and pas/jamais/que, etc go either side of the verb. For example:
Ne mangez pas trop de chocolat. – Don’t eat too much chocolate.
