Learn French: Prends cette tisane et couche-toi. - Have this herbal tea and lie down.

Prends cette tisane et couche-toi.

Have this herbal tea and lie down.

Breakdown of Prends cette tisane et couche-toi.

and

this (before a noun)

prendre

to have (a meal/drink) / to take

se coucher

to go to bed

Questions & Answers about Prends cette tisane et couche-toi.

Why is it couche-toi instead of te couche?

In French, when you tell someone to do something (a positive command), the reflexive pronoun moves after the verb and connects with a hyphen. Also, te changes to toi. If you were telling them not to do it, the pronoun would stay in front: ne te couche pas.

Why does prends keep its "s" but couche loses it?

When giving commands to tu, regular -er verbs like se coucher drop the final "s" (couche). However, prendre is an -re verb, so it keeps the "s" from its normal present tense form (tu prends becomes prends).

Why use prends (take) for a drink?

You could use bois (drink), but French very often uses prendre (to take) for consuming food and beverages. It is just like saying "have a tea" or "grab a coffee" in English.

Why is it cette tisane instead of ce tisane?

Tisane (herbal tea) is a feminine noun. To say "this" or "that" with a feminine noun, you must use cette. If the noun were masculine, you would use ce (or cet if it started with a vowel).