Using "en" with affirmative commands (L'Impératif) : French language lesson

Look at these imperative sentences:

Tu en prends trois. - Prends-en trois!
You take three of them. - Take three of them!

Nous en mangeons. - Mangeons-en!
We're eating some. - Let's eat some!

Nous en avons. - Ayons-en!
We have some (of it). - Let's have some!

Notice that in L'Impératif, the pronoun en is placed after the verb with a hyphen in between.

ATTENTION:
In the 'tu' form, -ER verbs recover their original -s in front of en (for pronunciation reasons) :

Achète des pâtes ! Achètes-en !
Buy some pasta ! Buy some !

Manges-en trois !
Eat three of them !

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Manges-en trois !
Eat three of them !

Nous en mangeons. - Mangeons-en!
We're eating some. - Let's eat some!

Nous en avons. - Ayons-en!
We have some (of it). - Let's have some!

Tu en prends trois. - Prends-en trois!
You take three of them. - Take three of them!

Achète des pâtes ! Achètes-en !
Buy some pasta ! Buy some !

Q&A

Chris

Kwiziq community member

19 December 2018

19/12/18

Qu'il y en a un sur deux qui n'est jamais heureux. -- That there is one in two who is never happy.

When you want to express that there is a certain number of something, you use il y en a...

Je dois acheter du lait? -- Non, il y en a encore un litre.
Combien de plats sont sur la table? -- Il y en a quatre.

Michelle

Kwiziq community member

21 December 2018

21/12/18

Thank you so much, Chris! I understood everything about this sentence but the usage of en. Now it all makes perfect sense.

Ron

Kwiziq community member

31 August 2017

31/08/17

Bonjour Allison, Comme l'exemple, soyez prudente. You are correct that etre uses le subjonctif in the imperative. Let me say, that, like yourself, I am but a Kwiziq community member, i.e. a member of the group, and not part of the Kwiziq team. I love the French language and have studied it for many years but still have a lot to learn. This being an open forum, I simply try to answer questions that I have an educated response for. So to that end, I have never run across in my studying or reading anything that explains the reasoning for the use of le subjonctif for etre in the imperative. I will, therefore, leave this question to Aurélie or another Kwiziq team member to provide you with the correct response. Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études en français.

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

31 August 2017

31/08/17

Bonjour Alison, It's not really that the "imperative uses the subjunctive" for certain verbs, but rather that for certain verbs, the imperative and subjunctive conjugations happen to be the same. In English, we say things like "If I were you..." - this is one of the rare occasions where we use the subjunctive. But it's not helpful to look at that and say "oh, we use the third person conjugation for the first person subjunctive" - it just so happens that those two conjugations are the same. Does that make sense?

alison

Kwiziq community member

31 August 2017

31/08/17

Yes Laura that does make sense but still left me with questions until I clicked on the link for imperative

Ron

Kwiziq community member

26 August 2017

26/08/17

Bonjour Jacqui, «take him two» is the translation for «prends-lui deux». If possible, could you include the question that you are referencing on this and resubmit it à bientôt

Ron

Kwiziq community member

26 August 2017

26/08/17

The lesson concerning «lui» in affirmative commands follows: Le, la, les vs lui, leur in affirmative commands (L'Impératif) I am unsure if this is the lesson you are referencing or not; however, let's look at this example. Ah, les bonbons. Prends-lui deux. This scenario could be two friends talking and the one with the bonbons tells the other to take two to her brother, whom she knows.

Jacqui

Kwiziq community member

27 August 2017

27/08/17

Bonjour Ron. Thanks for the clear answer. À bientôt, Jacqui

Ron

Kwiziq community member

27 April 2017

27/04/17

Bonjour Steven, Below are the imperative forms for avoir: Impératif Présent aie ayons ayez While the present participle and gerund are: Participe Présent ayant Gérondif Présent en ayant As can be seen, these forms are based on the subjunctive.

Ron

Kwiziq community member

27 April 2017

27/04/17

Hi again, Your question actually prompted my own: Why is the subjunctive Nous form used to make the present participle with the verb avoir when the majority of other verbs do not, they use the nous form of the present tense? However, être uses the nous form of the imparfait to form the present participle.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

3 November 2016

3/11/16

Bonjour Joakim ! The difference here is between negative and affirmative imperative sentences. In affirmative commands, "en" will come after the verb with an hyphen. In negative commands however, the object pronouns are placed just like in normal statements, meaning between the "ne" and the conjugated verb. I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

find your French level

Get some more practice

French listening practice

French reading practice

French speaking practice

French writing practice

Using "en" with affirmative commands (L'Impératif)

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Impératif

Mode impératif

Pronom adverbial

Examples and resources