Grammar patterns · GCSE French

Imperative

GCSE French imperative: tu, nous, vous commands, -er verb drops tu s, negatives, reflexives, and politesse with veuillez.

UNDERSTAND→RETRIEVE→REMEMBER
THE MEMORY HOOK
Drop the subject. Tu form loses -s on -er verbs: parle ! Nous and vous keep normal endings: parlons ! parlez !

The important bits

What you need to know

  1. 1

    Imperative gives orders, advice, instructions — role-play directions and classroom language.

  2. 2

    Regular -er: parle (tu), parlons (nous), parlez (vous) — note no -s on tu parle.

  3. 3

    -ir and -re: finis, finissons, finissez; vends, vendons, vendez.

  4. 4

    Irregulars: sois, ayons, ayez; va, allons, allez; fais, faisons, faites; veuillez + infinitive for formal please.

  5. 5

    Negative imperative: Ne parle pas ! Ne mangeons pas ! Ne + verb + pas — pronouns stay with verb in set phrases.

  6. 6

    Reflexive: lève-toi, asseyons-nous, habillez-vous — pronoun after affirmative imperative.

  7. 7

    Polite requests in shops: Écoutez, s’il vous plaît. Donnez-moi… — vous imperative plus s’il vous plaît.

  8. 8

    Recognition in listening: instructions, recipes, teacher commands.

Quotations worth analysing

Short evidence. Real method.

“Écoutez, s’il vous plaît. Répétez après moi. Ne parlez pas en anglais !”
Classroom imperatives

Vous forms for class; negative ne…pas wraps imperative. High-frequency listening language.

Go deeper

How do I form the imperative?

Use present indicative tu, nous, vous forms but drop the subject. -Er verbs drop final -s for tu: tu parles → parle ! Irregular imperatives must be learned: être → sois/soyons/soyez; avoir → aie/ayons/ayez; aller → va/allons/allez; faire → fais/faisons/faites; savoir → sache/sachons/sachez. Veuillez + infinitive is ultra-polite: Veuillez patienter. Role-play directions: Tournez à gauche, continuez tout droit, prenez la première rue.

Go deeper

Negative and reflexive imperatives

Negative: Ne + imperative + pas: Ne fume pas. With object pronouns in affirmative, pronoun follows with hyphen: Donne-le-moi. Negative pronoun order shifts: Ne me le donne pas. Reflexive: Couche-toi, levons-nous. GCSE usually needs recognition more than production of complex pronoun chains — but ne…pas on a simple command is mark-worthy in writing if accurate.

Go deeper

Imperative in exams

Speaking role-play may need vous commands or questions — imperative is often the fastest instruction form. Writing: recipe or health advice bullet — Mangez cinq fruits par jour. Faites du sport. Avoid inventing tu commands to a teacher — use vous. Pair with s’il vous plaît for politeness marks in transactional speaking.

WORKED EXAMPLE

See the idea in action

Pour être en forme, mangez des légumes et faites du sport. Ne mangez pas trop de sucre ! Buvez de l’eau et dormez huit heures. Vous imperatives for health advice — role-play and 90-word bullet ready.

Exam technique

Turn knowledge into marks

Tu parles → parle ! Remember the missing -s on -er verbs. Add s’il vous plaît in role-play commands.

Common mistakes

Do not give these marks away

  1. 01

    Parles ! with -s on tu -er imperative — should be parle !

  2. 02

    Je parle ! as imperative — drop je.

  3. 03

    Veuillez parler — veuillez takes infinitive: veuillez patienter.

QUICK RETRIEVAL

What is the tu imperative of parler?

Aparle

Bparles

Cparlez

Show the answer

parle. -Er verbs drop -s: parle. Parles is present. Parlez is vous.

Quick questions

If this is the bit you searched

Is imperative a tense?

It is a mood — commands. GCSE treats it as a form you recognise and sometimes produce.

Tu or vous in role-play?

Match context: waiter/teacher/stranger = vous. Friend peer = tu. Card usually signals which.