Imperative Mood Conjugations

Conjugaisons de l’impératif

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French imperative conjugations are relatively easy, as for most verbs they’re identical to their present tense conjugations – without the subject pronoun. The imperative is the only personal verb form that does not require a subject; the verb conjugation alone tells you who is being ordered to do or not to do something.

In addition, the imperative exists only for three grammatical persons instead of the normal six.*

Imperative of -er verbs

All -er verbs – regular, stem-changing, and irregular – follow this pattern:

• tu: present tense conjugation minus final s
• nous: present tense conjugation
• vous: present tense conjugation

Par exemple…

		donner		appeler		aller
(tu)		donne		appelle		va
(nous)		donnons		appelons		allons
(vous)		donnez		appelez		allez

 When a tu imperative is followed by an adverbial pronoun (en or y), the final s is maintained (learn more).

Imperative of -ir and -re verbs

1) Verbs that end in –frir and –vrir, which are conjugated like -er verbs in the present tense, follow the -er pattern in the imperative as well:

Par exemple…

		offrir		couvrir
(tu)		offre		couvre
(nous)		offrons		couvrons
(vous)		offrez		couvrez

2) With the exception of the above plus four irregular verbs, all other -ir and -re verbs – regular and irregular – use their present tense conjugations for the imperative.

Par exemple…

		choisir		partir		vendre		boire
(tu)		choisis		pars		vends		bois
(nous)		choisissons		partons		vendons		buvons
(vous)		choisissez		partez		vendez		buvez

 Note that the tu form of these verbs keeps the "s" at the end (learn more).

Irregular imperatives

Of course, there are always some irregular verbs to keep you on your toes. The imperative has four:

		avoir		être		savoir		vouloir
(tu)		aie		sois		sache		veuille
(nous)		ayons		soyons		sachons		n/a
(vous)		ayez		soyez		sachez		veuillez

* But take a look at Third person imperatives.

 Imperative Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the French imperative with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

• Comment utiliser une cafetière à piston
• Conseils de prévention contre le coronavirus
• Recette de gel hydro-alcoolique
• Le règlement de la piscine

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

• Using the imperative
• Negative imperative
• Imperative lessons – PwLF super list
• Past imperative
• Present tense
• Introduction to verbs

 French lesson plans

• Simon dit ! (Simon says!) (Lesson, 5th-8th grade)
     

 En español

• Imperativo
   

 In italiano

• Imperativo
   

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