In French, the imperative isn't rude at all, and it's very commonly used. We'll look at some of the most common verbs in the imperative and how to conjugate them into French.

Even though the imperative can't be used in questions, there is actually quite a lot you can do with this tense. We'll be exploring lots of different ways of using the imperative, we'll be looking at how to use it with object pronouns, and we'll also be looking at how to turn it negative.

There are different forms of the imperative, depending on whom you're speaking to, and there's one form that might surprise you to think of as being a command. The word "Let's" when placed in front of a verb is classed as a command or an order (or the imperative). Look at these examples:

• Let's go
• Let's leave early
• Let's not buy that
  
  

These are all examples of imperatives because, technically, you're telling yourself and whomever you're with what to do. We'll look at how to use this in French and we'll have plenty of opportunity to practise.

The importance of practice

Whilst it might seem like it takes a while to work out how to conjugate a verb into the different tenses, the amount of time it takes gets shorter the more you practise. I remember when I first uttered something in French without having to think about how I was going to say it; I felt amazing! I managed to conjugate the verb into the past tense and didn't even give it a second thought before it came out of my mouth. Whilst it was just a three-second utterance, in my head it was the most wonderful thing in the world because it meant all the many, many hundreds of hours of practice were worth it.

So, let's get on and learn all about the eighth structure and let's practise it as much as we can so we can speak confidently and fluently.

J'espère que tu l'aimes - I hope you like it 😊🇫🇷