Ne tire pas trop fort !

Questions & Answers about Ne tire pas trop fort !

Why is it tire and not tires since it's a command for 'you'?
Even though this is the tu (informal you) form of the verb tirer, French drops the final -s for all regular -er verbs when giving a command. So, tu tires becomes just tire ! The negative simply wraps it in ne ... pas.
Why does the sentence use fort (strong) instead of a word for 'hard'?
In French, the word fort is often used to describe physical actions. When you pull, push, or hit something 'hard', you do it fort. Because it is acting as an adverb describing how you pull, it never changes its spelling to match gender or number.
Would I also drop the -s if I gave a command using an irregular verb like mettre or écrire?
No, you only drop the -s in the tu command form for -er verbs like tirer. For irregular -re verbs like mettre and écrire, you keep the -s. For example, the command for 'put!' is mets !
Can tirer mean anything else besides 'to pull'?
Yes, tirer is a very common verb that can also mean 'to shoot' a weapon or 'to draw' a line. Context is key! Here, telling someone not to do it too hard points directly to pulling.

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