French Imperatives: Instructions, Negatives and Pronouns

01 / Understand

Choose the audience before the form

French commands commonly use forms corresponding to tu, nous, or vous, but omit those subject pronouns. The first person plural can invite a shared action, like “let us begin.” The choice between familiar and polite address still depends on the relationship. An imperative can sound helpful or abrupt depending on situation and delivery.

The omitted subject is still understood and still controls the verb form. This makes an imperative different from an infinitive label, such as a menu instruction naming an action. In a direct instruction to a person, select the actual addressee before forming the verb. A group addressed with vous may include people you know well; plural address does not necessarily imply social distance. The same written form can therefore serve different interpersonal situations.

02 / Understand

Drop the usual s in a familiar er command

For ordinary verbs ending in er, the familiar singular imperative usually drops the final s of the present tu form. Most other verbs retain their ordinary consonant endings. This is a restricted spelling rule, not a command to remove every final s from every familiar verb. The following pronoun can also affect spelling in special combinations.

Compare a statement addressed to a friend with a command addressed to the same friend. The subject pronoun disappears, and for a regular er verb the final written s usually disappears as well. Other parts of the message may remain unchanged. Making this transformation on a complete sentence helps you notice exactly what changed. It also prevents the broad but false rule that imperatives are always identical to present tense forms.

03 / Understand

Learn the useful irregular commands

Être and avoir have special command forms: sois, soyons, and soyez for être; aie, ayons, and ayez for avoir. These forms are not copied from the ordinary present indicative. Adjectives following a command of être still agree with the addressee. Learn forms in meaningful instructions rather than as isolated exclamations.

The adjective after an imperative of être describes the listener, not the speaker. A polite request to one woman may therefore use soyez prête, while an instruction to several women uses soyez prêtes. The verb stays the same because both use vous agreement. When a practice question requires adjective agreement, the number and gender of the addressee must be stated. Otherwise, more than one ending can be legitimate.

04 / Understand

Put objects after a positive command

A positive command places an object pronoun after the verb with a genuine French spelling hyphen. Me and te ordinarily become moi and toi in this position. Start with a single pronoun so you can hear and see the change from ordinary statement order. The person or thing replaced still determines which pronoun is appropriate.

A positive command can be short without being simple to analyze. In Donnez-moi le dossier, the understood listener is the giver, moi is the recipient, and the folder is the thing given. Naming the roles explains why the pronoun means me even though the command is addressed to you. Do not replace the recipient with a subject form simply because it follows the verb. Its object role remains intact after movement.

05 / Understand

Restore ordinary placement in a negative command

A negative command keeps the object before the verb, inside the complete negative. The verb form remains imperative, but the positive attachment pattern disappears. For a reflexive verb, the same reversal gives lève-toi versus ne te lève pas. Comparing the pair is more useful than learning two disconnected lists.

The negative pattern is useful as a diagnostic. If you can form both Regarde-le and ne le regarde pas, you have linked the two constructions rather than memorized one phrase. The same reasoning applies to an indirect object or a reflexive pronoun, with its appropriate form. Be careful not to preserve a positive command hyphen when moving the pronoun back before the verb. Standard spelling reflects the changed grouping.

06 / Understand

Keep the spelling that connects y and en

The familiar command of aller is va, but before attached y it becomes vas-y. A familiar er command likewise takes an added s before attached en or y. These forms support the sound connection. Treat them as specific combinations, not as a reason to restore an s to every positive command.

These spelling adjustments apply when the pronoun is directly attached in the relevant positive command construction. A following word elsewhere in a longer sentence does not automatically trigger them. Check the underlying relation before adding an s: is y the command’s attached place pronoun, or does it belong to a later infinitive? Keeping this question in mind prevents a pronunciation aid from becoming an inaccurate rule about any command followed somewhere by a vowel.

07 / Understand

Use a modal question to give the listener room to decline

An imperative is only one way to ask for action. A question with a modal can make the request easier to decline or clarify. Adding s’il vous plaît or s’il te plaît does not by itself make a request polite. Practice selecting a form for a real situation: a recipe instruction, an urgent direction, and a request for a favor can call for different wording.

An urgent warning may appropriately use a direct imperative, while a substantial favor may benefit from a question that acknowledges the listener’s choice. The grammar lesson cannot predict every social interaction. It can give you alternatives and make their literal structure clear. For practice, describe the situation before writing the request, then explain why you chose an instruction, a shared invitation, or a modal question. This connects sentence form to a real communicative decision.

Notice the difference

Common mistakes

From understanding to using

Make your own example.

Try these without answer choices. Say your answer aloud or write it below, then compare your reasoning with the model.