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Parle or parles? Ten questions on final s in French commands

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Choose parle, vas-y, manges-en and va en acheter. Ten explained questions test when an -er tu command loses s and when an attached pronoun adds it.

In short

Ordinary tu commands of -er verbs lose the present-tense s: tu parles → parle. Add s when y or en attaches directly to that affirmative form: penses-y, manges-en. In va en acheter, en belongs to acheter, so va keeps its ordinary spelling.

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Study first: look at the whole construction
PatternExampleReason
plain commandParle plus lentement.no final s on this -er tu form
attached yPenses-y.s and a hyphen before attached y
attached enManges-en.s and a hyphen before attached en
negativeN’en mange pas.en goes before the verb
following infinitiveVa en acheter.en belongs to acheter
intervening pronounDonne-m’en.m’ separates donne and en

The extra s appears before a directly attached y or en, rather than before every word beginning with a vowel. Donne-lui keeps its plain form. Finis, prends and fais keep their normal final s: they follow different verb models.

Use en to refer back to these foods

  1. Question 1No account needed
    Tell one friend to speak slowly.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Parle lentement.. The ordinary tu imperative of parler ends in -e, without the present indicative s.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    Complete the statement, rather than a command.Tu ___ très bien français.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    parles. With the subject tu in a present-tense statement, parler takes -es.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    Say “Go there”, with y attached to aller.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Vas-y.. The affirmative command adds s before attached y and joins the two with a hyphen.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    There is bread left. Tell a friend to eat some.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Manges-en un peu.. En attaches directly to mange, so add s and a hyphen.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    Say “Think about it”, with y replacing the idea.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Penses-y.. The ordinary command gains s before directly attached y: penses-y.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    Choose the full written negative of Vas-y.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    N’y va pas.. The pronoun moves before the verb, so the extra affirmative s is dropped.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Choose the full written negative of Manges-en.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    N’en mange pas.. En now comes before mange. The base -er command keeps its form without final s.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    Say “Go and buy some”: en belongs to acheter.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Va en acheter.. The pronoun completes acheter, rather than attaching to va: no added s or hyphen after va.

  9. Question 9No account needed
    Say “Give me some”: choose the standard spelling.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Donne-m’en.. The pronoun m’ intervenes before en, so the verb stays donne, without an added s.

  10. Question 10No account needed
    Which tu command keeps its normal final s?

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    Finis ce travail.. The s belongs to the normal imperative of finir. The -er deletion rule never applies to this verb.

The last two decisions ask you to check more than the next word. Identify the verb model, then ask which verb the pronoun completes. That lets you distinguish a directly attached pronoun from one sitting before a separate infinitive.

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