French grammar · Beginner
French Imperative Conjugations: Three Forms and Four Irregulars
The French imperative has only three forms, for tu, nous and vous, and each one is the present tense with the subject pronoun removed: parle, parlons, parlez. Verbs in -er drop the final s of the tu form, and four verbs take their imperative from the subjunctive instead.
Choisis un dessert et assieds-toi.
Choose a dessert and sit down.
What it is
An order in French is a stripped-down present tense. Because the verb ending already tells you who you're addressing, the pronoun is redundant and gets deleted: tu écoutes becomes écoute, vous écoutez becomes écoutez. That is the whole rule, and everything else is a detail on top of it.
tu prends → prends, nous prenons → prenons, vous prenez → prenez.
How to spot it
A verb standing at the head of a sentence with no subject in front of it is an imperative. If pronouns follow it joined by hyphens, it's an affirmative one.
- Ferme la porte. — Close the door.
- Attendons cinq minutes. — Let's wait five minutes.
- Venez avec nous. — Come with us.
- Donne-le-moi. — Give it to me.
The nous form covers English let's, so allons-y is let's go and partons is let's leave. There is no separate construction for it.
Imperative Mood Conjugations Quick Reference
The three imperative forms of each verb group
| Verb | tu | nous | vous |
|---|---|---|---|
| parler | parle | parlons | parlez |
| choisir | choisis | choisissons | choisissez |
| attendre | attends | attendons | attendez |
| faire | fais | faisons | faites |
| aller | va | allons | allez |
| être | sois | soyons | soyez |
| avoir | aie | ayons | ayez |
| savoir | sache | sachons | sachez |
Common Imperative Mood Conjugations Examples in French
The imperative in the situations that produce it:
Everyday Instructions
- Prends une chaise.
- Take a seat.
- Tourne à gauche après le pont.
- Turn left after the bridge.
- Appuyez sur le bouton vert.
- Press the green button.
- Remplissez ce formulaire.
- Fill in this form.
Vous is the default with anyone you don't know, and it's also the plural, so it covers most public instructions.
Let's
- Allons-y.
- Let's go.
- Prenons un taxi.
- Let's take a taxi.
- Voyons ce qu'il en pense.
- Let's see what he thinks.
- Soyons honnêtes.
- Let's be honest.
Voyons on its own is also a mild reproach, closer to come on now than to let's see.
With Pronouns Attached
- Dis-moi la vérité.
- Tell me the truth.
- Explique-le-lui.
- Explain it to him.
- Assieds-toi ici.
- Sit down here.
- Vas-y doucement.
- Go easy.
In an affirmative command the pronouns come after the verb, joined with hyphens, and the direct object precedes the indirect one.
Encouragement and Reassurance
- Sois patient, ça va venir.
- Be patient, it'll come.
- Aie confiance en toi.
- Have confidence in yourself.
- N'ayez crainte.
- Have no fear.
- Sachez que nous sommes là.
- Know that we're here.
These four irregular verbs supply most of the fixed encouraging phrases in French.
How the Forms Are Built
Delete the pronoun, adjust one letter for -er verbs, and learn four irregulars.
Take the Present Tense and Drop the Pronoun
The three imperative forms are the tu, nous and vous forms of the present indicative with nothing in front of them. There is no separate set of endings to learn.
Finissez votre travail.
Finish your work.
vous finissez → finissez.
-er Verbs Lose the Final S
Tu parles becomes parle, tu manges becomes mange. This applies to every -er verb including aller, whose imperative is va, and to a handful of -ir verbs conjugated like -er verbs, such as ouvrir: ouvre.
Ouvre la fenêtre, il fait chaud.
Open the window, it's hot.
-er verbs: no s in the tu form.
The S Comes Back Before Y and En
Pronunciation overrules spelling here. Va y is unsayable, so the s returns as a link: vas-y. The same happens with en: manges-en, donnes-en.
Prends-en deux, vas-y.
Take two, go on.
vas-y, manges-en.
Four Verbs Borrow the Subjunctive
Être, avoir, savoir and vouloir don't use their present indicative. Their imperatives are sois, soyons, soyez; aie, ayons, ayez; sache, sachons, sachez; veuille, veuillons, veuillez. The tu forms drop the subjunctive s.
Soyez à l'heure, s'il vous plaît.
Please be on time.
sois, aie, sache, veuille.
Me and Te Become Moi and Toi
Pronouns that land after the verb have to be in their stressed form. Me and te are too weak to stand at the end of a phrase, so they become moi and toi, joined by a hyphen.
Réveille-toi, il est huit heures.
Wake up, it's eight o'clock.
lève-toi, donne-moi.
Common Mistakes with Imperative Mood Conjugations
Incorrect: Parles plus lentement. — Speak more slowly.
Correct: Parle plus lentement. — Speak more slowly.
The tu imperative of an -er verb has no final s. Tu parles is a statement about what you do; parle is an instruction.
Incorrect: Tu ferme la porte. — Close the door.
Correct: Ferme la porte. — Close the door.
The imperative has no subject pronoun at all. Keeping tu turns the sentence back into a statement, and a slightly rude one, because it sounds like you're describing the person's behaviour.
Incorrect: Donne-me le livre. — Give me the book.
Correct: Donne-moi le livre. — Give me the book.
Me is an unstressed pronoun and cannot stand after the verb. In that position French requires the stressed form moi, and te likewise becomes toi.
Incorrect: Va-y tout de suite. — Go there right now.
Correct: Vas-y tout de suite. — Go there right now.
Before y and en, the s of the tu form comes back so the two words can be linked in speech. Va exists on its own, but vas-y is the only possible form with y attached.
The Complete Imperative Paradigms
The imperative exists in three persons and nowhere else. The empty rows in the first table are part of the picture: there is no way to command je, il or ils directly.
The Three Regular Groups
Only the -er column differs from the present indicative, because of the missing s.
| Pronoun | parler | choisir | attendre |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | — | — | — |
| tu | parle | choisis | attends |
| il / elle / on | — | — | — |
| nous | parlons | choisissons | attendons |
| vous | parlez | choisissez | attendez |
| ils / elles | — | — | — |
For a third person order French uses que plus the subjunctive: qu'il entre, let him come in.
The Four Irregular Verbs
These come from the subjunctive stem. Veuillez is the polite formula of written French and barely exists in speech.
| Pronoun | être | avoir | savoir | vouloir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tu | sois | aie | sache | veuille |
| nous | soyons | ayons | sachons | veuillons |
| vous | soyez | ayez | sachez | veuillez |
Faire and aller are not irregular here: fais, faisons, faites and va, allons, allez all come straight from the present tense.
Where the Pronouns Go
In an affirmative command every pronoun follows the verb, attached by a hyphen, with the direct object before the indirect one.
| Pronoun | se lever | one object | two objects |
|---|---|---|---|
| tu | lève-toi | prends-le | donne-le-moi |
| nous | levons-nous | prenons-le | donnons-le-lui |
| vous | levez-vous | prenez-le | donnez-le-moi |
This order is the reverse of the normal one. Compare tu me le donnes with donne-le-moi: the pronouns swap places as they move behind the verb.
Softer, Politer, and Impersonal Alternatives
A bare imperative can sound abrupt, and French has several standard ways of taking the edge off.
Veuillez, and the formal register
Veuillez plus an infinitive is the polite written imperative, standard in letters, emails and public notices. It is markedly more formal than a plain vous form.
- Veuillez patienter quelques instants.
- Please wait a moment.
- Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document.
- Please find the document attached.
- Veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées.
- Yours faithfully.
In speech, s'il vous plaît after an ordinary imperative does the same job: attendez, s'il vous plaît.
The infinitive, for nobody in particular
Recipes, instruction manuals and signs address no one, so they use an infinitive rather than an imperative. It's the same reason English recipes say combine rather than you should combine.
- Mélanger les œufs et le sucre.
- Mix the eggs and the sugar.
- Laisser reposer une heure.
- Leave to rest for an hour.
- Tirer la poignée vers soi.
- Pull the handle towards you.
This form is impersonal and permanent, which is why it appears on printed instructions rather than in conversation.
Que plus the subjunctive, for a third person
To give an order about someone who isn't in the conversation, French uses que with the subjunctive. English needs let him or have her.
- Qu'il entre.
- Let him come in.
- Qu'ils attendent leur tour.
- Have them wait their turn.
- Que personne ne bouge.
- Nobody move.
A few of these have hardened into fixed expressions: qu'à cela ne tienne, never mind that.
Imperative Mood Conjugations FAQs
- How do you conjugate the imperative in French?
- Take the tu, nous and vous forms of the present tense and drop the pronoun: attends, attendons, attendez. For -er verbs, remove the final s of the tu form as well: tu parles gives parle.
- Which French verbs have irregular imperatives?
- Four: être (sois, soyons, soyez), avoir (aie, ayons, ayez), savoir (sache, sachons, sachez) and vouloir (veuille, veuillons, veuillez). They take their forms from the subjunctive. Faire and aller look irregular but simply follow the present tense.
- Why is it vas-y and not va-y?
- Because va and y cannot be pronounced together comfortably. French restores the s of the present tense as a linking consonant, and the same happens before en: manges-en, take some.
- How do you say let's in French?
- With the nous form of the imperative: partons, let's leave; mangeons, let's eat; allons-y, let's go. There is no separate word for let's, and the verb form carries the whole meaning.
- Is the imperative rude in French?
- Not in itself, but it's direct. Softening it is easy: add s'il vous plaît, use vous rather than tu, or in writing use veuillez plus an infinitive. Ordinary instructions like appuyez sur le bouton are perfectly neutral.