The imperative

Kurz erklärt

The French imperative (l’impératif) is used for commands, instructions, advice, and suggestions. It has forms for tu, nous, and vous, but the subject pronoun is not written. Use tu for one person you address informally, nous for suggestions meaning ‘let’s’, and vous for one or more people addressed formally or in the plural.

Bildung

Use the present-tense tu, nous, or vous form without the subject pronoun. For regular -er verbs, the tu form normally loses its final -s: tu regardes → regarde. In negative commands, place ne before the verb and pas after it: ne regardez pas.

Verwendung

• Give a direct instruction or command.
• Offer advice or encouragement.
• Make a suggestion with the nous form.
• Use ne … pas to tell someone not to do something.

Beispiele

• Ferme la porte, s’il te plaît. — Close the door, please.
• Écoutez bien. — Listen carefully.
• Allons au café ! — Let’s go to the café!
• Ne mange pas ça. — Don’t eat that.

Typischer Fehler

❌ Tu fermes la porte.

✅ Ferme la porte.

Do not keep the subject pronoun or use a statement form for a command. Use the imperative form without tu.

Merke

No subject pronoun is used in the imperative. Regular -er verbs usually drop the final -s in the tu form.