Impératif à la troisième personne
 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
Most orders are given with the imperative in the second person (you) or first person plural (we). But it is possible to give orders in the third person, by using a special subjunctive construction.
Que + subjunctive, with no preceding main clause, is used for giving orders in the third person: indirect commands, wishes, concessions, suppositions, and exclamations. These are generally equivalent to "let" or "may" in English.
Par exemple…
| Que Dieu vous bénisse. | (May) God bless you. | |
| Que la Force soit avec toi ! | May the Force be with you! | |
| Que la lumière soit. | Let there be light. | |
| Qu’il repose en paix. | May he rest in peace. | |
| Qu’il y réussisse cette fois ! | Let him succeed this time! I hope he succeeds this time! |
|
| Qu’ils mangent de la brioche ! | Let them eat brioche! |
Note: It may help to think about a main clause expressing a command, desire, or wish that you could add to get the meaning across.
(On veut) Que Dieu vous bénisse.
(Nous souhaitons) Qu’il reponse en paix.
(J’ordonne) Qu’ils mangent de la brioche !
In a few fixed phrases, it’s possible to give indirect commands without que – see Special uses of the subjunctive.
More French subjunctive
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
Verb conjugation tables for more than 1,600 French verbs in all the simple and compound tenses and moods.
In English, we say that the vowels are “a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.” The last couple of words hint at one of the keys to understanding pronunciation: a vowel is not so much a letter as the sound represented by a letter or combination of letters.
Practice is the key to improving your French, and just 15 minutes a day on some kind of French activity can make a huge difference. Check out these ideas and draw up your own schedule.