French Reference Grammar - Verb forms
The imperative mood (commands)
The imperative exists basically in three forms - second person singular and plural, and first person plural -though the latter might be considered an exhortation rather than a command.
To form the imperative, take the second person singular and plural forms of the present tense and omit the 'tu' and the 'vous'. Do likewise with the first person plural form, omitting the 'nous'.
Some examples
'vous allez' - 'you are going'
'allez!' - 'go!'
'vous regardez' - 'you are looking at'
'regardez!' - 'look at...!'
Note: in addition, in the written form, omit the final 's' of the second person singular of -er verbs, or verbs which are conjugated like -er verbs. Thus: the present tense form is 'tu regardes': 'you are looking at'; the imperative is 'regarde!': 'look at!'
'nous regardons' - 'we are looking at...'
'regardons!' - 'let’s look at...!'
Some useful imperative forms
| Singular form | Plural form |
| colorie: colour (in) | coloriez: colour (in) |
| dessine: draw | dessinez: draw |
| écoute: listen | écoutez: listen |
| écris: write | écrivez: write |
| enlève: take off | enlevez: take off |
| ferme: close, shut | fermez: close, shut |
| mets: put | mettez: put |
| montre: show | montrez: show |
| montre-moi: show me | montrez-moi: show me |
| ouvre: open | ouvrez: open |
| pose: put, place | posez: put, place |
| regarde: look (at) | regardez: look (at) |
| sois: be | soyez: be |
| sois sage: be good | soyez sages: be good |