Making Requests in French - Exercises

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

la fenêtre, s'il te plaît.

Ferme

Ferme la fenêtre, s'il te plaît.

"Close the window, please."

We use Ferme here because it's the imperative form of fermer, a regular -er verb, used to give a command to one person (tu). In the tu-form imperative of regular -er verbs, we drop the final -s for smoother pronunciation.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

attention en classe !

Fais

Fais attention en classe !

"Pay attention in class!"

We use Fais here because it's the tu-form imperative of the irregular verb faire, which means "to do" or "to make." This is a common way to express "be careful" or "pay attention."

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

vos devoirs maintenant.

Faites

Faites vos devoirs maintenant.

"Do your homework now."

We use Faites here because it's the vous-form imperative of the verb faire. It's used for plural or formal commands.

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

Ne mange

Ne mange pas

Ne mange pas si

Ne mange pas si vite.

"Don't eat so fast."

Ne mange pas si vite.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

(Rangeait or Rangez) vos affaires.

Rangez

Rangez vos affaires.

"Put your things away."

We use Rangez here because it's the imperative form of ranger for vous, used to give a command to multiple people or formally to one person. Rangeait is from the imperfect tense and describes ongoing past actions, so it cannot be used as a command.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

(Va or Allons) au parc.

Allons

Allons au parc.

"Let's go to the park."

We use Allons here because it's the imperative form for "nous"—used to suggest an action that includes the speaker and the listener(s).

Va is the tu-form, and wouldn’t include the speaker, so it doesn't fit.

Let's translate some sentences into French.

Translate "Call me 'Corentin.'" into French.

appelle, "call,"

followed by

moi, the object pronoun for "me,"

"Corentin," the name being used in direct address.

Appelle-moi is the imperative structure used when giving a command to one person (tu). The pronoun moi comes after the verb in positive commands.

Appelle-moi "Corentin."

"Call me 'Corentin.'"

Translate "Let's start the homework." into French.

commençons, "let's start," the nous form of the verb commencer,

followed by

les, the plural definite article, meaning "the,"

devoirs, "homework."

Commençons is used here to suggest an activity that includes both the speaker and the listener. It follows the imperative pattern for nous commands, used to say "let's [do something]."

Les devoirs refers to homework and is plural, so we use les.

Commençons les devoirs.

"Let's start the homework."

Translate "Teach me to cook." into French.

apprends, "teach,"

followed by

moi, the object pronoun for "me,"

à, "to,"

followed by

cuisiner, "cook."

Apprends-moi à cuisiner is an imperative sentence with apprends in the tu-form. The object pronoun moi follows the verb in a positive command, and à cuisiner expresses the goal or action being taught.

Apprends-moi à cuisiner.

"Teach me to cook."

Listen to me as I speak. Which verb in the imperative mood do you hear?

Fais attention en classe !

Let's listen one more time.

Fais attention en classe !

Did you hear, fais?

Fais, the imperative form of the irregular verb faire, is used here to give a command to one person (tu).

It's used without a subject pronoun and directly followed by the rest of the instruction.

How about...?

Ne mange pas si vite.

Let's listen one more time.

Ne mange pas si vite.

Did you hear, ne mange pas?

This is a negative command, using the imperative form of manger.

In French, negative commands use ne before the verb and pas after the verb.

So ne mange pas means "don't eat."

Next…

Allons au parc.

One more time.

Allons au parc.

Did you hear, allons?

Allons is the imperative nous-form of the irregular verb aller, used to suggest an action you'll do together, like "let's go."

And...

Apprends-moi à cuisiner.

One more time.

Apprends-moi à cuisiner.

Did you hear, apprends?

This is an affirmative command using the tu-form imperative of apprendre followed by an object pronoun.

In positive commands, object pronouns come after the verb and are joined with a hyphen.

So apprends-moi means "teach me."

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to ask someone to do something in French.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

Au revoir !

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