This document provides an overview of the imperative tense in French. It explains that the imperative is used to give commands or instructions. There are three forms - tu, nous, and vous - which are conjugated similarly to the present tense, except the tu form drops the final -s. For affirmative commands, the object pronoun follows the verb connected by a hyphen, while for negative commands the object pronoun precedes the verb. Direct object pronouns come before indirect object pronouns when both are present. Examples are provided to illustrate affirmative and negative commands.

1. LEARNING THE FRENCH
IMPERATIVE TENSE

2. This learning guide is divided into different
parts with a quick recap after each topic.
1)
WHAT IS IMPERATIVE?
2)
AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE
COMMANDS

3. 1. WHAT IS
IMPERATIVE?
Imperative is a type of sentence to issue commands or give instructions.
Other uses of the imperative are:
• to express a desire,
• to make a request,
• to give an advice,
• to recomend something.
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4. THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN USING THE IMPERATIVE
1. There are two often-used forms of the French imperative, and these
correspond to tu and vous. The third form nous is only being used
sometimes, and it works the same way we say “let’s” in English.
2. Unlike the other verb forms and grammatical moods, the imperative
does not use subject pronouns. Instead, object pronouns are being
used.
3. To form the present tense imperative, you simply use the present
indicative forms for tu, nous, and vous, but these pronouns are no
longer being mentioned.
Note:
In the tu form of -er verbs, the last -s is dropped
i.e.  donne instead of donnes.
But when tu is followed by en or y, the -s remains to make it easier to
pronounce.
i.e.  Vas-y! (Go on!) or
Donnes-en à ton frère (Give some to your brother.)
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5. 2. AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE
COMMANDS
There are two kinds of commands where the imperative is being used.
These are the affirmative commands and the negative commands.
English
Affirmataive commands  do this!
Negative commands  don’t do that!
French
Affirmataive commands  the object pronoun comes after the verb and
both are joined by a hyphen.
i.e. : Excusez-moi. Aide-nous.
Negative commands  the object pronoun comes before the verb.
i.e. : Ne leur parlons pas. Ne le regardez pas.
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6. 2. AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE COMMANDS
(CONTINUED)
Quick tip:
object pronouns are words such as la (her/it), me or moi (me),
and leur (them). These often appear in the object part of the sentence, but
in the case of the imperative, these are the pronouns being used.
There are cases when both direct and indirect object pronouns are present.
During these scenarios, the DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS always come
BEFORE the INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS.
Direct object pronouns are: le, la, les
Indirect object pronouns are: moi, toi, lui, nous, vous, leur.
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7. A quick recap of this topic:
1. The three forms for the imperative are: tu, nous, and vous.
2. The conjugation is same as the present tense except that for -er verbs,
the last -s is dropped in the tu form.
3. Object pronouns are used in the imperative.
4. For affirmative commands, the object pronoun comes after the verb
and both are joined by a hyphen.
5. For negative commands, the object pronoun comes before the verb.
6. In cases where both direct and indirect object pronouns are present,
direct object pronouns come first before the indirect.
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