Look at these sentences in L'Impératif:
Note that in L'Impératif, the direct object pronouns le, la, l', les and the indirect object pronouns lui, leur are placed after the verb with an hyphen in between.
ATTENTION:
It's often very confusing for students to know which pronoun to use in affirmative commands.
Look at these two examples:
Nous écrivons à notre tante -> Nous lui écrivons -> Écrivons-lui !
We're writing to our aunt -> We write to her -> Let's write to her!
BUT
Tu arrêtes Paul -> Tu l'arrêtes -> Arrête-le !
You're stopping Paul -> You're stopping him -> Stop him!
Here is the rule:
- If the verb is normally followed by à + person in French (i.e. followed by an indirect object pronoun), such as in écrire à [quelqu'un] (to write to [someone]) or montrer à [quelqu'un] (to show [someone]), then you use lui or leur.
- If the verb isn't followed by any preposition (i.e. followed by a direct object pronoun), such as arrêter [X] [quelqu'un] (to stop [someone]), you use le/la or les.
See also Replacing nouns with le, la, l', les = it, him, her, them (direct object pronouns) and Replacing people with lui, leur = him, her, them (indirect object pronouns)
Special cases
Look at these examples:
Note that quite a few verbs, such as regarder and attendre, are used without prepositions in French, i.e. regarder [x] [quelqu'un]; attendre [x] [quelqu'un], whereas they have one in English (i.e to look at [someone], to wait for [someone]).
On the other hand, some English verbs without prepositions will be followed by à in French, i.e. to phone [someone] = téléphoner à [quelqu'un].
When in doubt, check with a dictionary.
See also Conjugate regular verbs in L'Impératif (imperative) and Conjugate être, avoir, savoir in L'Impératif (imperative)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A
Steve
Kwiziq community member
5/11/18
Charlotte,
In short, regarde-moi (look at me) is correct.
Regarde-la is also correct (look at it/her).
Check this lesson regarding the change from me to moi in the imperative: https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/view/718.
CHARLOTTE
Kwiziq community member
5/11/18
Steve
Kwiziq community member
5/11/18
I understand the rule to be:
"When the pronouns me (me/to me) and te (you/to you) are after the verb (in the affirmative), they are replaced by the equivalent stress pronouns moi and toi.
In the negative (there is another lesson for this) me and te are used and appear before the verb."
It is what it is - just another part of the rich tapestry which is the French language.
Don't sweat it.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
7/11/18
Hi Charlotte,
Regarde-me ! is incorrect but look at the following lesson for more examples:
Regarde-moi! = Look at me!
Attend-moi! = Wait for me!
Aide-moi! = Help me!
Rappelle-moi! = Remind me!/ Call me back!
Me will be me in the negative commands like in the following examples :
Ne me regarde pas! = Don't look at me!
Ne m'attend pas! = Don't wait for me!
Ne m'aide pas! = Don't help me!
Ne me rappelle pas! = Don't remind me!
The following lesson will give you more examples -
Hope this helps!
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/10/18
Hi Daphne,
Normally the 'e' at the end of a word is not pronounced ( unless it has an accent) and it is called 'mute'.
You are hearing the examples you cite correctly, the 'e' is still mute , but what you hear is the last consonant.
Sometimes you will hear an extra syllable as some people like to pronounce very precisely but in general, in spoken French particularly in the top half of France you are more likely to swallow up 'e' 's and contract syllables.
e.g.
'Regarde-les' can be four syllables (re-gar-de-les)or three( re-garde-les) depending on who says it.
This can be subject to regional differences so no steadfast rule -
In the case of 'Téléphone-lui' , you will normally hear four syllables (té-lé-phone-lui) but in the South of France you will probably hear five of them (té-lé-pho-ne-lui) as they like to pronounce all the possible syllables.
Hope this helps!
Suzanne
Kwiziq community member
16/09/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
16/09/18
I don't know of such a list ib kwiziq. An online dictionary is useful for this, such as this:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-french
Suzanne
Kwiziq community member
17/09/18
Just to push this a bit further, what phrase would you use to find this list on Collins? I haven't found the right one yet.
Alan
Kwiziq community member
17/09/18
Maybe this will help:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/verbs-with-prepositions/
Suzanne
Kwiziq community member
17/09/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/06/18
That's because the verb "téléphoner" in French requires an indirect object
-> téléphoner à [quelqu'un] - to phone [someone]
fiona
Kwiziq community member
26/06/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/06/18
Bonjour Fiona !
In "Regarde-la", la is a direct object pronoun -> regarder [quelqu'un]
However, lui is an indirect object pronoun, so cannot be used here.
If you wanted to use the masculine direct object pronoun, it would be "Regarde-le" :)
Here are links to the relevant lessons:
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
26/06/18
fiona
Kwiziq community member
26/06/18
Bonjour Cecile (my accents are not working anymore on my key board I do not know why).
Oui, mais Aurelie me aide
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
15/06/18
Bonjour Oleg !
Unfortunately, I don't know what question or example you're referring to.
If it's a specific question, please use the "Report it" button next to it in your Correction Dashboard :)
Bonne journée !
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
18/06/18
Ron
Kwiziq community member
11/10/17
Johanna
Kwiziq community member
15 November 2018
2 replies
Verb form
In the following example, why does Arrête drop the s in the imperative? I’m blanking out on the rule
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
16 November 2018
16/11/18
Hi Johanna,
This is just the rule for regular verbs of the first group ending in ER , no rhyme or reason , it's just how it is ....
Take a look at the following lesson which will give you lots of examples -
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/conjugate-regular-verbs-in-l-imperatif-imperative
Hope this helps!
Johanna
Kwiziq community member
16 November 2018
16/11/18