When do tu verbs in the imperative take an -s? in French
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When do tu verbs in the imperative take an -s?
In the present version of the imperative, ER verbs (those verbs that end in ‘-er’) conjugated in the tu form never take an ‘-s’ at the end. This also includes the verb aller.
Tu manges (You eat, you are eating) → Mange ! (Eat up!)
Tu écoutes (You listen, you are listening) → Écoute ! (Listen!)
Tu vas chez le docteur (You are going to the doctor’s) → Va chez le docteur ! (Go to the doctor’s!)
Tu écoutes (You listen, you are listening) → Écoute ! (Listen!)
Tu vas chez le docteur (You are going to the doctor’s) → Va chez le docteur ! (Go to the doctor’s!)
The verbs ouvrir (to open), offrir (to offer), souffrir (to suffer), couvrir (to cover) and cueillir (to gather) also follow this rule (no ‘-s’ at the end of the tu form):
Tu ouvres (You open, you are opening) → Ouvre ! (Open up!)
Tu cueilles (You gather, you are gathering) → Cueille ! (Gather!)
Tu offres (You offer, you are offering) → Offre le cadeau! (Offer the present!)
Tu cueilles (You gather, you are gathering) → Cueille ! (Gather!)
Tu offres (You offer, you are offering) → Offre le cadeau! (Offer the present!)
For all other verbs, we keep the ‘-s’ at the end of the tu form.
Tu fais (You do, you are doing) → Fais-le ! (Do it!)
Tu prends (You take, you are taking) → Prends ! (Take!)
Tu vois (You see, you are seeing)→ Vois ! (See!)
Tu prends (You take, you are taking) → Prends ! (Take!)
Tu vois (You see, you are seeing)→ Vois ! (See!)
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