Giving Commands the Imperative in French Commands or

“Commands” (or the “imperative”) means that you are telling (or ordering) someone to do

Look at these examples in English: Go to your room! Don’t work at Mc.

In French, only 3 verb forms are used to give commands: Øtu form Øvous

The tu and vous forms are to give a command to another person (“you”).

The nous form is to give a command to others, but you also want

So how do we form commands? English and French do the same thing for

Examples: Ø Go to the kitchen! Notice that we didn’t say “You go to

Here’s how to form commands in French: Ø drop the subject Ø begin with

Examples: Ø Go to the kitchen! Ø Ø Va à la cuisine! Allez à

Examples: Ø Let’s go to the kitchen! Ø Allons à la cuisine! Ø Let’s

So how do we form commands in the negative? The same rule applies: place

Examples: Ø Don’t go to the kitchen! Ø Ø Ne va pas à la

The only verb this does not work for is être: Ø tu form Ø

Pratiquons! (Let’s practice!) Trouvez une partenaire! (Find a partner!)

The teacher will give you 2 prompts: v a verb v which form to

Example: vparler vvous form Ø Parlez français! Ø Ne parlez pas français!

Pratiquons! vporter vtu form Ø Porte un _____! Ø Ne porte pas de ___!

Pratiquons! vétudier vvous form Ø Étudiez _____! Ø N’étudiez pas _____!

Pratiquons! valler vnous form Ø Allons _____! Ø N’allons pas _____!

Pratiquons! vparler vtu form Ø Parle _____! Ø Ne parle pas _____!

Pratiquons! vécouter vvous form Ø Écoutez _____! Ø N’écoutez pas de ___!

Slides: 23

Download presentation

Giving Commands! (the Imperative) in French

“Commands” (or the “imperative”) means that you are telling (or ordering) someone to do (or not to do) something.

Look at these examples in English: Go to your room! Don’t work at Mc. Donald’s! Close your books! Let’s speak French!

In French, only 3 verb forms are used to give commands: Øtu form Øvous form Ønous form

The tu and vous forms are to give a command to another person (“you”). Your choice is whether you are commanding a friend (tu) or commanding several people (vous).

The nous form is to give a command to others, but you also want to include yourself in the command (“we”). In English, we would say “Let’s ____!”

So how do we form commands? English and French do the same thing for commands – the “you” is understood and thus eliminated.

Examples: Ø Go to the kitchen! Notice that we didn’t say “You go to the kitchen!” Ø Speak French! Ø Do your homework!

Here’s how to form commands in French: Ø drop the subject Ø begin with the verb *** with the tu form of regular –er verbs and the verb aller, you eliminate the –s at the end of the verb!

Examples: Ø Go to the kitchen! Ø Ø Va à la cuisine! Allez à la cuisine! Ø Ø Parle français! Parlez français! Ø Speak French! Ø Do your homework! Ø Fais tes devoirs! Ø Faites vos devoirs!

Examples: Ø Let’s go to the kitchen! Ø Allons à la cuisine! Ø Let’s speak French! Ø Parlons français! Ø Let’s do our homework! Ø Faisons nos devoirs!

So how do we form commands in the negative? The same rule applies: place ne…pas around the verb (which now happens to be the first word of your command).

Examples: Ø Don’t go to the kitchen! Ø Ø Ne va pas à la cuisine! N’allez pas à la cuisine! Ø Ø Ne parle pas français! Ne parlez pas français! Ø Don’t speak French! Ø Don’t do your homework! Ø Ne fais pas tes devoirs! Ø Ne faites pas vos devoirs!

The only verb this does not work for is être: Ø tu form Ø vous form Ø nous form = Sois ___! = Soyez ___! = Soyons ___! You do not have to learn these now! ***This is more of a French II/III thing.

Pratiquons! (Let’s practice!) Trouvez une partenaire! (Find a partner!)

The teacher will give you 2 prompts: v a verb v which form to use: tu / vous / nous Ø The first student will form the command. Ø The second student will return the command in the negative form.

Example: vparler vvous form Ø Parlez français! Ø Ne parlez pas français!

Pratiquons! vporter vtu form Ø Porte un _____! Ø Ne porte pas de ___!

Pratiquons! vétudier vvous form Ø Étudiez _____! Ø N’étudiez pas _____!

Pratiquons! valler vnous form Ø Allons _____! Ø N’allons pas _____!

Pratiquons! vparler vtu form Ø Parle _____! Ø Ne parle pas _____!

Pratiquons! vécouter vvous form Ø Écoutez _____! Ø N’écoutez pas de ___!

Giving Commands! (the Imperative) in French