The Imperative: Giving Directions and Other Commands

1. Purpose and Formation of the Imperative

L’impératif, the imperative mood, is used to give commands, orders, or express wishes, like “Look!” or “Be careful!” You first encountered the imperative in the lesson In the Classroom, where you saw such commands as Ecoutez ! (Listen!) or Répétez ! (Repeat!).

There are three forms of the imperative, based on the three subject pronouns that take the imperative:

• Tu: used to give an order to someone you know well in informal settings
• Nous: used to give an order that involves oneself as well as others (“Let's…”)
• Vous: used to give an order to several people or to address one person formally

For all verbs, the imperative present is formed by taking the corresponding forms of the present indicative. However, you do not use any subject before the verb. So far in this course, you have learned to conjugate several verbs in the present of the indicative. Some of these verbs are regular and others are irregular, so we will begin with some of the regular verbs as examples to show you how to conjugate the imperative.

1a. Regular -er Verbs

Let’s start with the formation of the imperative present for regular -er verbs. In this example, we will use the verb parler (to speak).

recall

For a longer list of regular -er verbs, go back to the lesson Regular -er Verbs in the Present Tense.

Practice repeating the imperative forms as you follow along.

Parler (to speak):

Présent de l’indicatif	Present Indicative	L’impératif	The Imperative
tu parles	you speak	Parle !	Speak!
nous parlons	we speak	Parlons !	Let’s speak!
vous parlez	you speak	Parlez !	Speak!

Did you notice that the conjugation endings for tu parles and Parle ! are different? That’s because all regular -er verbs must drop the final -s of the tu indicative form in the imperative form.

1b. Regular -ir Verbs

The imperative conjugation of regular -ir verbs is easy to remember because it is the same as for the indicative present form, as you can see below with the verb finir (to finish). For a longer list of regular -ir verbs, go back to the lesson Regular -ir Verbs in the Present Tense. Practice repeating the imperative forms as you follow along.

Finir (to finish):

Présent de l’indicatif	Present Indicative	L’impératif	The Imperative
tu finis	you finish	Finis !	Finish!
nous finissons	we finish	Finissons !	Let’s finish!
vous finissez	you finish	Finissez !	Finish!

Contrary to -er verbs, regular -ir verbs do not drop the final -s of the tu indicative form in the imperative form.

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2. Irregular Imperatives

Remember that in French, verbs are organized in three different groups, depending on the ending of their infinitive form and a few other conjugation patterns:

1. Le premier groupe (the first group) includes verbs that end in -er and have regular conjugation patterns.
2. Le deuxième groupe (the second group) includes verbs that end in -ir and have regular conjugation patterns.
3. Le troisième groupe (the third group) includes all of the other verbs, including those that end in -re, those that end in -oir, some -ir verbs, and the irregular verb aller (to go).

Because verbs in the third group follow more irregular conjugation patterns, it is important to learn the conjugation for each new verb you encounter. The verbs être (to be) and avoir (to have) have imperative forms that are very different from their indicative present form, as you can see below. Make sure you practice repeating these conjugations, as their pronunciation can be tricky.

Être (to be):

Audio	L’impératif	Version française	English Version
	sois	Sois sage !	Be good!
	soyons	Soyons honnêtes.	Let’s be honest.
	soyez	Soyez à l’heure !	Be on time!

Avoir (to have):

Audio	L’impératif	Version française	English Version
	aie	Aie de la patience !	Have patience!
	ayons	Ayons confiance !	Let’s have confidence!
	ayez	Ayez du courage !	Have courage!

Another irregular verb is aller (to go). You saw the expression Allons-y ! (Let’s go!) in a previous lesson, so below are all of the imperative forms of this verb. You will learn how to conjugate the verb aller in the indicative present in the lesson Activity Expressions with aller.

Aller (to go):

Présent de l’indicatif	Present Indicative	L’impératif	The Imperative
tu vas	you go	Va !	Go!
nous allons	we go	Allons !	Let’s go!
vous allez	you go	Allez !	Go!

hint

Similarly to regular -er verbs, you must drop the final -s of the tu indicative form in the imperative form of aller.

For other irregular verbs, if you already know the indicative present conjugation, then you will know how to conjugate the imperative. Simply use the indicative present conjugations for tu, nous, or vous to get the imperative conjugations. Here’s one example with the verb boire (to drink), which you first learned to conjugate in lesson Food and Meals.

Boire (to drink):

Présent de l’indicatif	Present Indicative	L’impératif	The Imperative
tu bois	you drink	Bois !	Drink!
nous buvons	we drink	Buvons !	Let’s drink!
vous buvez	you drink	Buvez !	Drink!

try it

The best way to learn French conjugations is to practice them repeatedly until you feel you have mastered them and can conjugate verbs quickly without giving it too much thought. Using a French conjugation tool like Conjuguemos is a great way to help you learn and practice your conjugations, especially if you set a timer to complete a set under a given number of minutes.

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3. Negative Commands

Now that you’ve learned how to form the imperative to express commands, requests, or wishes, let’s illustrate how to give a negative command, instruction, or request using negative pairs like the ones you learned in the lesson Negation and Negative Statements.

When used in imperative present sentences, negation pairs are placed the same way they are in the indicative present form—directly around the conjugated verb: ne + imperative + pas (+ end of the sentence).

Here are some examples of imperative sentences and how they can be changed from an affirmative to a negative command. Like in the first example, remember that ne must be elided to n’ in front of a verb starting with a vowel sound or a mute h to avoid two vowel sounds following each other.

Audio	Version française	English Version
	Aie peur de l'hôpital ! N’aie pas peur de l'hôpital !	Be afraid of the hospital! (Literally, Have fear of the hospital!) Don’t be afraid of the hospital!
	Parlons en français ! Ne parlons pas en français !	Let’s speak in French! Let’s not speak in French!
	Soyez timides ! Ne soyez pas timides !	Be shy! Don’t be shy!

Of course, you can use the other negation pairs, such as ne … plus (no longer/not anymore) and ne … jamais (never) as relevant.

Audio	Version française	English Version
	Va chez Antoine ! Ne va plus chez Antoine !	Go to Antoine’s place! Don’t go to Antoine’s anymore!
	Sois en retard ! Ne sois jamais en retard !	Be late! Never be late!

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4. Giving Directions with the Imperative

To give someone directions, the imperative is frequently used, along with prepositions of place (which you first learned in the lesson Prepositions of Place and Time) and other useful vocabulary.

4a. Common Vocabulary for Giving Directions

Here is a list of useful prepositions when giving directions to someone. Be sure to listen to and repeat each preposition until you feel you have a handle on them.

Audio	Les prépositions	Prepositions
	à côté de	beside, next to
	à droite de	to the right of
	sur la droite	on the right
	à gauche de	to the left of
	sur la gauche	on the left
	au bout de	at the end of
	vers	towards
	au coin (de)	at the corner (of)
	derrière	behind
	devant	in front of
	en face (de)	facing, opposite (of)
	loin (de)	far (from)
	près (de)	near
	tout droit	straight ahead

Other useful vocabulary when giving directions includes words that indicate steps, like the few shown below.

Audio	Les étapes	Steps
	d’abord, en premier	first
	ensuite, puis	then, next
	après	afterwards
	enfin	finally

4b. Common Verbs for Giving Directions

Here are some verbs that you can use when giving directions. As you follow along, repeat the verbs out loud as many times as you need to.

Audio	Verbes de direction	Direction Verbs
	commencer	to start
	continuer	to continue
	tourner	to turn
	traverser	to cross
	passer	to pass
	arriver	to arrive
	monter	to go up/climb
	descendre	to go down

All of the -er verbs in the table above are regular verbs, so they conjugate the same way parler does (refer to the section on regular -er verbs in this lesson). Descendre, on the other hand, is a third-group verb, so you need to learn its imperative form:

Audio	L’impératif	The Imperative
	Descends !	Go down!
	Descendons !	Let’s go down!
	Descendez !	Go down!

Now try building some sentences yourself using the imperative.

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4c. Conversations with Directions

Now that you’ve learned how to form and use the impératif, as well as relevant verbs and other vocabulary to give directions, it’s time to see and hear them used in practice in everyday conversations.

Speaker	French	English
Maëlle:	Salut Inès, ça va ?	Hi Inès, how are you?
Inès:	Salut Maëlle ! Je suis bien contente de te voir !	Hi Maëlle! I am so glad to see you!
Maëlle:	Ah bon, pourquoi ?	Oh really, why?
Inès:	Je suis perdue ! Je ne trouve pas mon appartement.	I’m lost! I can't find my apartment.
Maëlle:	Oh mince ! Où habites-tu ?	Oh shoot! Where do you live?
Inès:	J’habite aux Estudines Europole.	I live at the Estudines Europole.
Maëlle:	Pas de problème, c’est près d’ici ! D’abord, commence sur la rue Marx Dormoy vers la rue Mozart. Ensuite, tourne à gauche sur la rue d’Alembert. Traverse le Cour Berriat et tu arrives à la rue Anthoard.	No problem, it's near here! First, start on rue Marx Dormoy towards rue Mozart. Then, turn left on rue d'Alembert. Cross the Cour Berriat and you arrive at rue Anthoard.
Inès:	Et après ça ?	And after that?
Maëlle:	Après, tourne à droite sur la rue Anthoard, continue tout droit, puis tourne à gauche sur la rue Pierre Semard, et la résidence des Estudines est sur ta gauche.	After, turn right on rue Anthoard, continue straight, then turn left on rue Pierre Semard, and the Estudines residence is on your left.
Inès:	Merci beaucoup Maëlle, au revoir !	Thank you very much, Maëlle, bye-bye!

Watch the sample dialogue and practice using the imperative as Alex and Cécile discuss their plans for the evening:

watch