By the end of this lesson you'll be able to give commands with pronouns, and tell people what not to do.
After the verb, with a hyphen
You know how to give commands from the lesson on the imperative, and you know the pronouns from the lesson on direct object pronouns and the lesson on indirect object pronouns. In a positive command, the pronoun comes after the verb, joined by a hyphen.
Regarde-le !
Look at him!
Écoute-la.
Listen to her.
Prends-les.
Take them.
Parle-lui.
Speak to him.
Réponds-leur.
Answer them.
Aide-nous.
Help us.
Me changes after the verb: it becomes moi. So you get Regarde-moi (Look at me) and Écris-moi (Write to me).
Y and en
Y and en from the lesson on y and the lesson on en go after the verb too. There's one surprise. You know that -er verbs and aller lose the -s of the tu form in a command. Before y and en, that -s comes back, so that the two words can link together.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Vas-y ! / Allez-y ! | vah ZEE / ah-lay ZEE | Go on! Go ahead! (tu / vous) |
| Allons-y ! | ah-lohn ZEE | Let's go! |
| Prends-en. | prahn ZAHN | Take some. |
| Manges-en. | mahnzh ZAHN | Eat some. |
| Penses-y. | pahns ZEE | Think about it. |
So Va à la gare becomes Vas-y, and Mange un peu de gâteau becomes Manges-en un peu. Verbs that keep their -s anyway, like prendre, don't change: Prends-en deux.
The negative goes back to normal
In a negative command, everything returns to the usual order. The pronoun goes before the verb, and it keeps its normal form, so there's no hyphen and no moi.
Ne le fais pas.
Don't do it.
Ne lui parle pas.
Don't speak to her.
N'y va pas.
Don't go there.
N'en prends pas.
Don't take any.
Ne m'appelle pas.
Don't call me.
Reflexive commands
Reflexive verbs, from the lesson on daily routines, follow the same pattern. In the positive, te becomes toi after the verb, and the vous and nous forms use vous and nous. The tu form of an -er verb still has no -s.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Lève-toi. / Levez-vous. | lev TWAH / luh-vay VOO | Get up. (tu / vous) |
| Dépêche-toi. / Dépêchez-vous. | day-pesh TWAH / day-peh-shay VOO | Hurry up. (tu / vous) |
| Dépêchons-nous. | day-peh-shohn NOO | Let's hurry. |
| Habille-toi. | ah-bee-y TWAH | Get dressed. |
| Reposez-vous. | ruh-poh-zay VOO | Have a rest. |
| Ne t'inquiète pas. / Ne vous inquiétez pas. | nuh tan-KYET pah / nuh voo zan-kyay-tay PAH | Don't worry. (tu / vous) |
In the negative, the pronoun goes back in front, and it's te again: Ne te lève pas, Ne t'inquiète pas. Ne t'inquiète pas comes from the verb s'inquiéter (to worry), which belongs to the same word family as inquiet from the lesson on emotions and feelings. It's worth learning as a block.
Two pronouns in a command
French often puts two pronouns in a positive command. At this level, learn a few of these as fixed phrases. The rule is simple: le, la or les comes first.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Donne-le-moi. | donn luh MWAH | Give it to me. |
| Dis-le-moi. | dee luh MWAH | Tell me. |
| Montre-le-moi. | mohn-truh luh MWAH | Show it to me. |
| Passe-le-lui. | pahs luh LWEE | Pass it to him / to her. |
You'll meet all the other combinations at B1.
At a glance
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | Regarde-le (Look at him) | Ne le regarde pas (Don't look at him) |
| Indirect | Parle-lui (Speak to her) | Ne lui parle pas (Don't speak to her) |
| Me | Regarde-moi (Look at me) | Ne me regarde pas (Don't look at me) |
| Y | Vas-y (Go there) | N'y va pas (Don't go there) |
| En | Prends-en (Take some) | N'en prends pas (Don't take any) |
| Reflexive | Lève-toi (Get up) | Ne te lève pas (Don't get up) |
Putting it to use
You'll hear these most often when someone is giving directions or advice, as in the lesson on il faut and simple advice, or when food is being offered round.
- Le pain ? Prends-le, il est là. (The bread? Take it, it's there.)
- Tu as mal à la tête ? Repose-toi. (You have a headache? Have a rest.)
En français
- La gare, c'est loin ? (Is the station far?)
- Non, vas-y à pied. Prends la première rue à gauche. (No, go on foot. Take the first street on the left.)
- Et le billet, je le prends ? (And the ticket, shall I take it?)
- Oui, prends-le, mais ne l'oublie pas ! (Yes, take it, but don't forget it!)
- D'accord. À ce soir ! (OK. See you tonight!)
- Dépêche-toi, le train part à dix heures ! (Hurry up, the train leaves at ten o'clock!)
What's next
Next, the lesson on verbs with à and de shows which verbs need a small word before an infinitive. Then the lesson on polite requests gives you softer ways of asking people to do things.