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Impératif
It’s imperative that you understand the imperative mood if you want to
- give orders
- make requests
- express desires
- provide recommendations
- offer advice
- prohibit actions
Affirmative commands
When telling someone to do something, you’re giving an affirmative command.
Par exemple…
| Arrêtez ! | Stop! | |
| Fais tes devoirs ! | Do your homework! | |
| Prenez soin de vous. | Take care of yourself. |
Vouloir is used in the imperative for an especially polite order:
| Veuillez patienter ici. | Please wait here. | |
| Veuillez vous asseoir. | Please sit down. |
Negative commands
Logically enough, telling someone not to do something is a negative command.
Par exemple…
| Ne parle pas si fort. | Don’t speak so loudly. | |
| Ne soyons pas en retard. | Let’s not be late. |
Word order
Word order with negative commands follows the same rules as virtually* all other verb tenses and moods:
- Ne precedes the verb and pas or another negative word follows it.
- Any object, reflexive, and adverbial pronouns go between ne and the verb.
Par exemple…
| Ne le regarde pas. | Don’t look at him. | |
| Ne nous en parlez pas. | Don’t talk to us about that. |
Lesson: Double pronoun order
Par exemple…
| Parle-lui. | Talk to him. | |
| Montrez-le-nous. | Show it to us. |
As with all other verb constructions, when the object and reflexive pronouns me and te are followed by the adverbial pronouns en or y, they contract with those words.
Par exemple…
| Parlez-m’en. | Talk to me about that. | |
| Mets-t’y. | Stand there. |
Par exemple…
| Parle-moi. | Talk to me. | |
| Accroche-toi. | Hang on. |
Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the French imperative with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:
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!
- Imperative conjugations
- Imperative lessons – PwLF super list
- Past imperative
- Verb mood
- Giving orders
- Object pronouns
- Reflexive pronouns
- Adverbial pronouns
- Negative adverbs
- Impersonal orders
- Si clauses
- Introduction to verbs
French lesson plans
- L’art langagier du caméléon (Lesson, 3rd-5th grade)
- Simon dit ! (Simon says!) (Lesson, 5th-8th grade)
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