Un 7.5

The Imperative

To this point, we have only focused on one mood, known as the indicative mood. There are, however, four moods in the French language system. Here, we’ll look at a second mood: the imperative.

Explication

Exercices

Indicative vs. Imperative Moods – Les modes indicatif vs impératif

The indicative mood is used to communicate factual information. It is typically the most commonly used of all moods in a language.

e.g.

J’ai faim.	I’m hungry.
Est-ce qu’il faut dépenser beaucoup d’argent ici ?	Is it necessary to spend a lot of money here?

The imperative mood is used to communicate direct commands to someone.

e.g.

Do your homework!

Help your neighbours!

In many languages, including in English and French, the imperative can come across as a rude way to communicate a command. In most parts of the francophone world, however, imperative sentences are not considered as shocking or blunt when compared to English, and are used in much higher frequency, and in many more contexts. In certain contexts where most English speakers would use a conditional sentence (another mood) to soften a request or command, many French speakers would consider the imperative to be appropriate. The imperative is typically followed by an exclamation point in French.

e.g.

Faites vos devoirs !	Do your homework!
Aide tes voisins !	Help your neighbours!

In French, the imperative is used in a number of forms. The most frequent are the two 2nd person forms, which reflect the formality of the situation, or the number of people being addressed. This corresponds with situations necessitating the ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ subject pronouns. There is also a 1st person plural form that is used to include the person who is communicating. In all 3 of these forms, there is no subject pronoun.

The Imperative of Regular -er Verbs – L’impératif des verbes réguliers en -er

All regular -er verbs follow the same pattern, which is based on their present tense forms. If a change in the verb’s stem is required for that verb, it is still required.

For the 2nd person singular (tu-form), the present indicative 1st person singular (je-form) is used. For regular -er (1st group) verbs, this means that the ‘-s’ ending disappears from the 2nd person singular (tu-form) present indicative form.
For the 1st person plural (nous-form) and the 2nd person plural (vous-form), the imperative forms are identical to those in the present indicative.

e.g.

penser / acheter / manger
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Pensons ! Achetons ! Mangeons !
tu	Pense ! Achète ! Mange !	vous	Pensez ! Achetez ! Mangez !

The Imperative of the Irregular Verbs ‘être’, ‘avoir’, ‘aller’, ‘faire’ and 'savoir' - L’impératif des verbes irréguliers ‘être’, ‘avoir’, ‘aller’, ‘faire’ et 'savoir'

As in the present indicative, the verbs ‘être’, ‘avoir’, ‘aller’, ‘faire’ and ‘savoir’ have forms that need special attention, and differ slightly from the pattern seen in regular -er verb.

être
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Soyons !
tu	Sois !	vous	Soyez !

avoir
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Ayons !
tu	Aie !	vous	Ayez !

aller
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Allons !
tu	Va !	vous	Allez !

faire
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Faisons !
tu	Fais !	vous	Faites !

savoir
Corresponding Subject Pronoun		Corresponding Subject Pronoun
		nous	Sachons !
tu	Sache !	vous	Sachez !

The Imperative with Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns – L’impératif avec des COD et COI

In the imperative, direct and indirect object pronouns, if they are dependent on the main conjugated verb, are placed after the verb. A hyphen is used to connect the object pronoun(s) to the conjugated verb.

e.g.

Demande-lui !	Ask him/her!
Fais-le !	Do it!

In this position, two of the direct object pronouns change in form. This occurs for the first person singular and the second person singular.

e.g.

Aidez-moi !	Help me!
Calme-toi !	Calm down!

Due to the imperative’s nature, the use of the second person ‘toi’ and ‘vous’ is much more common with reflexive verbs, as in the example above. Reflexive verbs will be explored in more detail in another unit.

The Imperative with Negation – L’impératif avec la négation

To negate an imperative sentence, the negative particles ‘ne’ and ‘pas’ are placed around the conjugated verb (i.e. the verb that changes for the subject). If the verb begins with a vowel or unaspirated ‘h’, contraction occurs.

e.g.

N’ayons pas trop de confiance !	Let’s not be overconfident! / Let’s not have too much confidence!
Ne va pas chercher des problèmes !	Don’t go looking for problems!

If a direct or indirect object pronoun is with the conjugated verb, the object pronoun will act similarly to in the present, placed before the conjugated verb and after the first negative particle ‘ne’.

e.g.

Beurk ! Les oranges sont pourris. Ne les mange pas !

Yuck! The oranges are rotten. Don’t eat them!

Exercices