Breakdown of Dis au chien : « Lâche-le ! »
le chien
the dog
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
dire
to say, to tell
lâcher
to drop / to let go of
Questions & Answers about Dis au chien : « Lâche-le ! »
Why is le attached to the end of Lâche with a hyphen?
Why doesn't Lâche end with an 's', since it is the tu form?
For -er verbs like lâcher (to drop/let go), you drop the final 's' in the tu command form. While you would normally say Tu lâches (You drop), the command is simply Lâche !
If we drop the 's' for commands, why does Dis still end with one?
The rule for dropping the 's' only applies to -er verbs. The verb dire (to say) is an -re verb, so its tu command form naturally keeps its 's': Dis !
Why do we say au chien instead of just à chien or le chien?
In French, you say something to someone, which requires the preposition à (dire à). Because 'the dog' is masculine (le chien), the words à and le must combine to form the mandatory contraction au.
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