French Imperative Verbs: How to Form and Use Commands

Key takeaways

• The French imperative has three forms: tu (informal singular), nous (we, for suggesting a shared action), and vous (formal singular or plural). There is no subject pronoun in imperative sentences: it is dropped entirely.
• The single most important rule for -er verbs: the tu form drops the final -s. Parler becomes Parle!, not Parles!. This -s is only added back when followed by y or en: Parles-en! (Talk about it).
• Four verbs have irregular imperative forms that must be memorized: être (sois, soyons, soyez), avoir (aie, ayons, ayez), savoir (sache, sachons, sachez), vouloir (veuille, veuillons, veuillez — veuillez is the polite form used in formal writing).
• Negative imperatives place ne before the verb and pas after it: Ne pars pas! (Don’t leave!), N’attendez pas! (Don’t wait!).

French learners who can conjugate verbs in present tense often stall at the imperative. The forms look unfamiliar because they are presented in a different order than conjugation tables, the subject pronoun disappears, and the -er verb rule (no -s on tu) contradicts the pattern from every other tense.

This guide covers how to form the regular imperative for tu, nous, and vous; the -er verb rule that drops the -s in the tu form; the four irregular imperative forms (être, avoir, savoir, vouloir); reflexive imperatives in both affirmative and negative; negation patterns; and the strategies that soften a direct command into a polite request.

The imperative appears in recipes, travel directions, everyday requests, and safety instructions from the first weeks of using French in real environments, which means errors surface early and are worth correcting before they become habits. Find a French language tutor on italki, a platform that has connected over 10 million learners with qualified teachers since 2007, and run a full instruction-based session: giving directions, following a recipe aloud, and making polite requests in both tu and vous registers.

How to form the regular imperative

For most verbs, the imperative is formed by taking the present tense conjugation for tu, nous, or vous and dropping the subject pronoun.

Verb	Present tense (tu/nous/vous)	Imperative
parler (to speak)	tu parles / nous parlons / vous parlez	Parle! / Parlons! / Parlez!
finir (to finish)	tu finis / nous finissons / vous finissez	Finis! / Finissons! / Finissez!
attendre (to wait)	tu attends / nous attendons / vous attendez	Attends! / Attendons! / Attendez!
choisir (to choose)	tu choisis / nous choisissons / vous choisissez	Choisis! / Choisissons! / Choisissez!

The nous form functions as a suggestion or invitation: Parlons! (Let’s speak!), Allons-y! (Let’s go!). This is the French equivalent of English “let’s + verb.”

The tu form and the missing -s

This is the single most important rule to get right in the imperative:

-er verbs drop the -s in the tu form.

Infinitive	Tu present	Tu imperative
parler	tu parles	Parle!
manger	tu manges	Mange!
écouter	tu écoutes	Écoute!
entrer	tu entres	Entre!

-ir and -re verbs keep the -s in tu:

Infinitive	Tu present	Tu imperative
finir	tu finis	Finis!
attendre	tu attends	Attends!
partir	tu pars	Pars!

Exception: the -s returns before y and en.

When the tu imperative of an -er verb is immediately followed by y or en, the -s is added back for pronunciation ease (to avoid vowel hiatus).

Parle becomes Parles-en! (Talk about it!) Va becomes Vas-y! (Go ahead! / Go there!) Mange becomes Manges-en! (Eat some of it!)

This exception applies only when y or en directly follow the imperative. In all other positions, the -s stays absent.

Irregular imperative forms

Most irregular verbs in French form the imperative just like regular verbs (present tense minus subject pronoun). Only four verbs have truly irregular imperative forms:

Verb	Tu	Nous	Vous
être (to be)	sois	soyons	soyez
avoir (to have)	aie	ayons	ayez
savoir (to know)	sache	sachons	sachez
vouloir (to want)	veuille	veuillons	veuillez

Sois patient. (Be patient.) Ayez confiance. (Have confidence. / Trust in this.) Sache que je suis là. (Know that I am here.) Veuillez trouver ci-joint… (Please find attached…) — the most formal and polite imperative form, standard in formal correspondence.

Aller is irregular in the tu form only (not because its imperative is truly irregular, but because vas loses its -s in the imperative): Va au supermarché. (Go to the supermarket.) Vas-y! (Go ahead! / Go there! — -s added before y)

For the full conjugation of être, avoir, aller, and other high-frequency irregular French verbs across all major tenses, the guide to French irregular verbs covers complete tables for the 12 most important ones.

Reflexive verbs in the imperative

Reflexive verbs keep their reflexive pronoun in the imperative, but the pronoun position and form change:

Affirmative imperative: pronoun follows the verb, joined by a hyphen. Te becomes toi.

Verb	Tu	Nous	Vous
se lever (to get up)	Lève-toi!	Levons-nous!	Levez-vous!
se dépêcher (to hurry)	Dépêche-toi!	Dépêchons-nous!	Dépêchez-vous!
s’asseoir (to sit down)	Assieds-toi!	Asseyons-nous!	Asseyez-vous!
se reposer (to rest)	Repose-toi!	Reposons-nous!	Reposez-vous!

Negative imperative: pronoun returns to its regular position before the verb, and stays as te (not toi).

Ne te lève pas. (Don’t get up.) Ne vous dépêchez pas. (Don’t hurry.) Ne nous asseyons pas ici. (Let’s not sit here.)

The switch between toi (affirmative) and te (negative) is one of the things that makes reflexive imperatives harder to produce correctly under conversational pressure.

A private French tutor can drill reflexive imperative forms in realistic instruction scenarios, such as giving directions, following a recipe, or responding to a trainer’s instructions, which are exactly the contexts where these forms appear most. italki has 30,000+ teachers across 150+ languages, including qualified French teachers who use real-world task scenarios to build grammatical automaticity.

Negative imperative

The negative imperative follows the standard French negation pattern: ne before the verb, pas after.

Ne parle pas si vite. (Don’t speak so fast.) N’attendez pas dehors. (Don’t wait outside.) Ne finissons pas sans elle. (Let’s not finish without her.) Ne te décourage pas. (Don’t get discouraged.)

For other negative words alongside imperatives:

Ne dis rien. (Don’t say anything. / Say nothing.) N’y va jamais seul. (Never go there alone.) Ne prends plus de sucre. (Don’t take any more sugar.)

The order of negation elements stays the same as in indicative sentences: ne before the verb, other negative particle (rien, jamais, plus) after the verb.

Making requests sound polite

A bare imperative in French can sound abrupt. Several strategies soften it:

Add s’il vous plaît or s’il te plaît: Attendez, s’il vous plaît. (Please wait.) Passe-moi le sel, s’il te plaît. (Pass me the salt, please.)

Use conditional instead of imperative: Pourriez-vous m’aider? (Could you help me?) — far softer than Aidez-moi. Tu pourrais répéter? (Could you repeat that?) — softer than Répète.

Use veuillez for formal written requests: Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document demandé. (Please find attached the requested document.) Veuillez agréer, Madame, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées. (Formal letter closing.)

Add softening words: Dis-moi, tu peux m’aider? (Tell me, can you help me?) — dis-moi feels conversational rather than commanding.

Where the imperative appears in real French

• Recipes: Faites revenir l’oignon dans l’huile. Ajoutez le sel. Laissez mijoter vingt minutes. (Sauté the onion in oil. Add salt. Let simmer for twenty minutes.)
• Navigation: Tournez à droite. Continuez tout droit. Prenez la deuxième rue à gauche. (Turn right. Continue straight. Take the second street on the left.)
• Instructions and signage: Appuyez sur le bouton. Attendez le signal. Composez votre code. (Press the button. Wait for the signal. Enter your code.)
• Informal conversation: Écoute, je dois te dire quelque chose. (Listen, I need to tell you something.) Regarde ça! (Look at this!)
• Safety and warnings: Ne touchez pas. Restez derrière la ligne. (Don’t touch. Stay behind the line.)

Avoiding the most common errors

The imperative in French is more reliable than it looks once the key rules are in place. Book a trial lesson today and spend the session giving directions, following a recipe, or doing a role play where instructions are the whole task.

That concentrated practice is what makes the forms automatic. With 30,000+ tutors trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide, italki has French teachers who build grammatical automaticity through exactly this kind of structured scenario work.

FAQ

Why does the -s disappear in the tu imperative of -er verbs?

It is a historical rule that has remained in standard French. The -s was not pronounced in Old French imperatives of -er verbs, and the modern written rule reflects that history. The only exception is when pronunciation would create an awkward vowel sound: the -s returns before y and en.

Is vous ever used for one person in the imperative?

Yes. Vous is the polite form when addressing a single person you would normally use vous with: a colleague you don’t know well, a customer, an official. Asseyez-vous (Please sit down) is addressed to one person in a formal context, not necessarily a group.

What is the difference between sois and soit?

Sois is the tu imperative of être: Sois patient (Be patient). Soit is the third-person singular present subjunctive of être, used in expressions like soit dit en passant (that said, in passing) or after certain conjunctions: bien qu’il soit tard (even though it’s late). The two forms sound identical but are grammatically different.

Can the imperative be used to give suggestions rather than commands?

Yes, particularly the nous form. Allons au restaurant ce soir (Let’s go to the restaurant tonight) is a suggestion, not a command. The tone is entirely determined by context and intonation.