Ch 12 · Lesson 7French · Chapter 12 · Lesson 7 · Grammar primer
Donne-moi, ne me donne pas: pronouns in commands
A positive command puts the pronoun after the verb with a hyphen, and me becomes : . A negative one puts it back in front: me .
The short version
Pronouns swap sides when you say don't
.
Why?Hide
In an affirmative command the pronoun hooks onto the verb with a hyphen and me becomes : . Negate it and the pronoun goes back in front as plain me: me . The split is mechanical, and is the error it catches.
Pronouns with positive commands
In a positive command, the object pronoun moves after the verb and joins it with a hyphen. and become and .
!- Give me the book!- !- Look at it!- !- Sit down!!- Let's go!
Two pronouns keep the order , , first, then , , , , : -- ! (Give it to me!) Reflexive verbs work the same way: - ! (Get up!)
Pronouns with negative commands
Add ... and the pronoun goes back in front of the verb, as in any ordinary sentence. and go back to and .
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
! | ! |
- ! | ! |
! | ! |
- ! | ! |
!- Don't give me the book!!- Let's not go there!
The whole rule fits in one line: positive, pronoun after with a hyphen; negative, pronoun before, as usual.
Vas-y and manges-en: the s comes back
Before and , the dropped s of an -er command comes back, said as a z, so two vowels do not collide:
!- Go! but!- Go on!!- Eat! but- !- Eat some!
In a negative command the pronoun moves in front and the s goes again: ! (Don't go there!)
Going further: The three forms and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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8-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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