Giving commands, directions or suggestions using the imperative

 You give and receive commands all the time:  Pass me your paper.  Sit down.  Clean your room.  Pass me the book.  Go to class.  Let’s eat dinner.

 In French, as in English, you may ‘command’ or direct one or more people. You may also be included in this command (let’s…)  In French, you will only be using THREE conjugations of the verb:  TU (when telling 1 person what to do)  VOUS (when telling 1 or more people what to do)  NOUS (when suggesting that “we” do something)

 USE THE ‘TU’ CONJUGATION OF YOUR VERB….BUT….  DO NOT INCLUDE THE ‘TU’  Examples:  Mange** une pomme! (Eat an apple!)  Finis la soupe! (Finish the soup!)  Vends la voiture! (Sell the car!)  Ne touche pas mon bol! (Don’t touch my bowl!) **NOTE THAT THE ‘S’ OF THE TU CONJUGATION OF ‘ER’ VERBS ONLY GOES AWAY IN A COMMAND.

 VERY SIMPLE—JUST CONJUGATE TO THE ’VOUS’ SUBJECT, BUT LEAVE OFF THE ‘VOUS’!  EXAMPLES:  ÉTUDIEZ! (Study!)  Écoutez et répetez! (Listen and repeat!)  Ne parlez pas! (Don’t talk!)

 Simply conjugate to the NOUS form and leave out the “nous”! Remember that this type of command is more of a suggestion than a command.  Allons au cinéma! (Let’s go to the movies!)  Ne faisons pas de vélo! (Let’s not ride our bikes!)  Prenons un café! (Let’s have a coffee!)  Finissons les bonbons! (Let’s finish the candy!)