L'imperatif

L’impératif en français

the imperative in French

What is l’impératif?

• L’impératif (the imperative) is used to give orders or advice to one or more people. 

• The imperative only exists in the second person singular (tu), the first person plural (nous) and the second person plural (vous).

• The imperative is conjugated in the same way as the present tense, but the subject pronouns are omitted.

Par exemple:

Passager: Arrêtez!

Chauffeur: Montez!

Passager: Conduisez-moi à la gare!

Chauffeur: Mettez votre ceinture, s’il vous plaît!

Passager: Allons-y!

When to use l’impératif in French

• The imperative is a mood that we use to give an order or a suggestion to one or more people.

  Examples:

  Arrêtez !

  Montez !

  Conduisez-moi à la gare !

• Sometimes we include ourselves in the order and use the imperative in the first person plural form (nous). This is similar to the English let’s + infinitive.

  Example:

  Allons-y !

How to conjugate l’impératif in French

• 2nd person singular (tu)

• We conjugate the imperative in the 2nd person singular using the present-tense form of the 1st person singular. We do not include the subject pronoun (tu).

  This means that regular -er verbs end with -e, while all other verbs end with -s. For irregular present-tense forms

• parler – Parle !

  finir – Finis !

  vendre – Vends !

Multiple Choice

Conjugate the imperative form of DANSER

• Danses!

• Danse!

• Tu danses!

• Tu danse!

Multiple Choice

Conjugate the imperative form of choisir:

• Choisis!

• Choises!

• Choise!

• Choisit!

Multiple Choice

Conjugate the imperative form of attendre:

• Attends!

• Attend!

• Attende!

• Tu attends!

1st person plural (nous)

• The imperative for the 1st person plural form nous is the same as the present-tense form. This means that for -er and -re verbs and irregular verbs we add -ons, and for ir-verbs that are conjugated like finir we add -issons. The subject pronoun (nous) is omitted.

• parler – Parlons !

  finir – Finissons !

  vendre – Vendons !

• This conjugation includes yourself and is the English equivalent of Let's ...

Multiple Choice

Conjugate aller in the imperative using 1st person plural:

• Allons!

• Nous allons!

• Allez!

• Vous allez!

Multiple Choice

Choose the conjugation that means, "Let's eat!".

• Mange!

• Manges!

• Mangeons!

• Mangez!

Multiple Choice

Choose the conjugation that means, "Let's think!".

• Pense!

• Penses!

• Pensons!

• Pensez!

Multiple Choice

Choose the conjugation that means, "Let's dance!".

• Danse!

• Danses!

• Dansez!

• Dansons!

2nd person plural (vous)

• The imperative for the 2nd person plural form vous is the same as the present-tense form. This means that for -er and -re verbs and irregular verbs we add -ez, and for -ir verbs that are conjugated like finir we add -issez. The pronoun (vous) is omitted.

• parler – Parlez !

  finir – Finissez !

  vendre – Vendez !

• We also use this form in polite requests.

  
  

• Attendez, madame.

  Veuillez vous asseoir

Multiple Choice

Choose the form that politely requests that someone follow you.

• Suivez-moi, s'il vous plait.

• Suivons-moi, s'il vous plait.

• Suive-moi, s'il vous plait.

• Suives-moi, s'il vous plait.

Multiple Choice

Choose the polite request that someone wait for you.

• Attendons-moi!

• Attends-moi!

• Attend-moi!

• Attendez-moi!

Multiple Choice

Choose the polite request that someone excuse you:

• Pardon-moi!

• Pardonnez-moi!

• Pardone-moi!

• Pardonons-moi!