L'impératif
There are 3 forms of the imperative (commands) in French:
• the "tu" form, used when you are talking to one person ­ a friend, family member, or someone younger
• the "vous" form, used when you are talking to more than one person, or when you are talking to one person on a formal level
• the "nous" form, when you include yourself in the command ­ equivalent to "Let's..." in English
"tu" form
­er verbs
• drop the "s" from the tu form of the present tense
écouter
tu écoutes
Écoute!
to listen
you listen
Listen!
• for a negative commant, put ne before the verb and pas after
N'écoute pas!
Don't listen!
"tu" form
­ir and ­re verbs
• use the tu form of the present tense
finir tu finis Finis! to finish
you finish
Finish! attendre tu attends Attends! to wait
you wait
Wait! • for a negative commant, put ne before the verb and pas after
N'attends pas!
Don't wait!
"vous" form
­er, ­ir and ­re verbs
• use the vous form of the present tense
écouter vous écoutez Écoutez! to listen
you listen
Listen! finir vous finissez
Finissez! to finish
you finish
Finish! attendre vous attendez Attendez! to wait
you wait
Wait! "nous" form
­er, ­ir and ­re verbs
• use the nous form of the present tense
écouter nous écoutons Écoutons! to listen
we listen
Let's listen! finir nous finissons
Finissons! to finish
we finish
Let's finish! attendre nous attendons Attendons! to wait
we wait
Let's wait! Verbes irréguliers
most irregular verbs follow the same rule as regular verbs
Exceptions:
avoir
être
savoir
aie
ayez
ayons
sois
soyez
soyons
sache
sachez
sachons