Prends cette tisane et couche-toi.

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).

Learn Prends cette tisane et couche-toi and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free