In French, the imperative mood is generally used to give commands or instructions in the affirmative or the negative. We have so far encountered the indicative and the subjunctive moods. The imperative is considered a separate mood in French.
The imperative can be in the affirmative or the negative. It can be in the singular informal “tu” form, or in the “vous” form in the case of plural or singular formal:
1. Singular informal (i.e., “tu” form)
2. Plural and singular formal (i.e., “vous” form)
In addition to the above two cases of imperative commands in French, we will study commands using “nous.”
Singular Informal Imperative
To give commands to a single person in an informal way, we use the present indicative in the second-person singular form, i.e., “tu,” in both the affirmative and the negative. A minor change is the dropping of the final “-s” in the “-er” verbs, for example:
| Choisis la bonne réponse. | Choose the correct answer. |
| Marche doucement. | Walk slowly. |
| Lave-toi les mains. | Wash your hands. |
| Ne te lave pas le visage. | Don’t wash your face. |
| Ne me mens pas. | Don’t lie to me. |
| Ne parle pas vite. | Don’t speak fast. |
Notice that if there is a pronoun related to the verb, e.g., a reflexive or indirect object pronoun, it is attached to the end of the verb in the affirmative and placed before the verb in the negative.
There are only four irregular verbs in the singular informal command form.
| Infinitive | Command | Example | |
| être | sois | Sois poli. | Be polite. |
| avoir | aie | Aie tout. | Have it all. |
| savoir | sache | Sache la vérité. | Know the truth. |
| vouloir | veuille | Veuille patienter. | Please wait. |
Notice that the imperative of the verb “vouloir” (to want) is an invitation to do something and is often roughly translated into English as “please.”
Plural and Singular Formal Imperative
To give commands to a single person in a formal way or to a group of people in a formal or informal way, we use the “vous” form in the present indicative tense in both the affirmative and the negative, for example:
| Madame, entrez par ici, s’il vous plaît. | Ma’am, enter from here, please. |
| Monsieur, ne fumez pas ici, s’il vous plaît. | Sir, don’t smoke here, please. |
The irregular verbs are the same as the singular informal imperative:
| Infinitive | Command | Example | |
| être | soyez | Soyez poli. | Be polite. |
| avoir | ayez | Ayez tout. | Have it all. |
| savoir | sachez | Sachez la vérité. | Know the truth. |
| vouloir | veuillez | Veuillez trouver ci-joint. | Please find attached. |
Commands using “Nous”
Similar to the expression “let’s do something” in English, commands using “nous” in French express the same idea and can be affirmative or negative. Both use the present indicative, for example:
| Faisons nos devoirs. | Let’s do our homework. |
| Ne fumons pas. | Let’s not smoke. |
| Allons-y! | Let’s go! |
The following three verbs are irregular:
| Infinitive | Command | Example | |
| être | soyons | Soyons poli. | Let’s be polite. |
| avoir | ayons | Ayons tout. | Let’s have it all. |
| savoir | sachons | Sachons la vérité. | Let’s know the truth. |
Other lessons in Level V:
