The imperative mode

17 oct. 2017 09:22 - language-swap

Niveau débutant

The imperative mode in French is pretty easy.
The verbs are only conjugated at the second person singular “tu” (you), the first person plural “nous” (we) and the second person plural “vous” (you).
The personal pronoun subject is not used at the imperative.

The imperative is formed by the radical of the verb and the following terminations:
1st group 2nd group 3rd group
2nd person singular TU -e (chante!) -s (finis!) -s (rends!)
1st person plural NOUS -ons (chantons!) -ssons (finissons!) -ons (rendons!)
2nd person pluralVOUS -ez (chantez!) -ssez (finissez!) -ez (rendez)

/!\ Warning:
• Some verbs of the 3rd group are conjugated like the 1st one:
cueillir, offrir
• There are four irregular verbs conjugated on the radical of the subjunctive
être : sois, soyons, soyez
avoir: aie, ayons, ayez
savoir: sache, sachons, sachez
vouloir: veuille, veuillons, veuillez
(allez: va, allons, allez)

It is to be remembered that we ad a -s to the verb when it is followed by the pronouns “y” or “en”
Examples:
Vas-y!
Attrapes-en!