A2
Giving an instruction
How French forms the imperative, the -er verb spelling rule, and where pronouns go in a positive and a negative command.
Take the present tense and drop the subject pronoun. There are three forms: tu, nous and vous.
Écoute !
listen
Listen!
Regardez ça.
look-you that
Look at that.
Allons-y !
let-us-go-there
Let’s go!
The nous form is how French says let’s.
-er verbs lose the final s
In the tu form only, and only for -er verbs and aller.
| tu parles → parle ! | |
| tu manges → mange ! | |
| tu vas → va ! | |
| tu finis → finis ! | unchanged, not an -er verb |
Manges ta soupe !
Mange ta soupe !
The -s goes in the tu imperative of an -er verb. It comes back before y or en for sound — vas-y, manges-en — which is the exception to the exception.
Pronouns move behind, in the positive
And me becomes moi.
Donne-le-moi.
give-it-to-me
Give it to me.
Lève-toi !
raise-yourself
Get up!
In the negative they go back in front
Ne me le donne pas.
not to-me it give not
Don’t give it to me.
Ne donne-le-moi pas.
Ne me le donne pas.
Only a positive command moves the pronouns behind the verb. A negative one keeps the ordinary order, inside ne … pas.
Two irregulars worth knowing
Être → sois, soyons, soyez. Avoir → aie, ayons, ayez. Both borrow the subjunctive — sois sage, n’ayez pas peur.