9TH GRADE NOTES- 25

L’Imperatif (The imperative mood)

Autres forms de l’impératif (Other forms of imperative)

Apart from the other method, an order or an advice can also be given or indicated by
two other methods:
1. With the use of the verb “Devoir” (Should, have to, must)
2. With the expression Il faut (It is necessary, one has to) (The verb Falloir)

A few examples of both the methods:

Devoir:
1. Tu dois arriver en avance. (You should/must arrive early)
2. Vous devez manger vite. (You should / must eat fast)
3. Nous devons parler doucement. (We should / must speak softly)
In such questions the student should consider the main verbs- Arriver,Manger, Parler .
Here the verb devoir becomes a helping verb.

Falloir- Il faut:
In this method the person (Tu, nous, vous ) who should do the job is not mentioned.
Hence it is a general statement telling – One has to do / one should not do a certain
thing.
1. Il faut venir à l’école en uniforme ! (One has to come to school in uniform)
2. Il faut obeir vos parents ! (It is necessary that one should obey one’s parents)
3. Il faut étudier dur ! (One should study hard)
Here the student should consider the main verbs – Venir, Obeir, Étudier .The verb
Falloir becomes a helping verb.

Now we will see the three methods used in negative sentences. (You must be used to
the regular method in negation, which was shown in the earlier example
columns.)
1. Ne sortez pas de la classe! (Don’t go out of the class)- 1st method
2. Vous ne devez pas sortir de la classe ! (you should not go out of the class)- 2nd
method.
3. Il ne faut pas sortir de la classe! (One should not go out of the class)- 3rd method

You have seen the affirmative and negative expressions with non –reflexive
verbs in all the methods- Regular, Devoir and Falloir.

Now we also have to see how these other two forms are used with reflexive verbs:

Affirmative –
Se Laver- To wash oneself
Tu dois te laver- You must wash yourself Devoir Form
Nous devons nous laver- Let us wash ourselves.
Vous devez vous laver- You must wash yourself.

See the placement of Te, Nous, Vous.

S’habiller – To get dressed oneself

Il faut t’habiller - It is necessary that you dress yourself. Falloir Form
Il faut nous habiller – It is necessary that we dress up ourselves.
Il faut vous habiller- It is necessary that you dress up yourself.

If it is a vowelled reflexive verb then TE becomes T’

Notice the placement of te, nous, vous.

Negative –
Se Dépêcher – To hurry oneself
Tu ne dois pas te dépêcher - You must not hurry up yourself. Devoir Form
Vous ne devez pas vous dépêcher – You must not hurry up yourself.
Nous ne devons pas nous dépêcher – Let us not hurry up ourselves.
Here the negative wraps itself around the Devoir and Falloir verbs.

S’arrêter- To stop oneself.

Il ne faut pas t’arrêter- It is not necessary to stop yourself. Falloir Form.
Il ne faut pas vous arrêter – It is not necessary to stop yourself.
Il ne faut pas nous arrêter- It is not necessary to stop ourselves.