Learn French: Que le traître périsse !

This is a special structure! When you start a sentence with Que followed by the subjunctive, it acts as a third-person command or a strong wish. Since there is no true imperative form for 'he', 'she', 'it', or 'they', this structure steps in to mean 'Let him...' or 'May the...'.

Where does the double 's' in périsse come from?

Périr (to perish) is a regular -ir verb, just like finir. To form the present subjunctive, you take the nous form of the present indicative (nous périssons), drop the -ons to get your stem (périss-), and add the subjunctive ending. Here, for le traître (he), we add -e, resulting in périsse.

Would you actually hear people talk like this in everyday French?

The grammatical structure itself is very common in daily life (for example, Que le meilleur gagne ! means 'May the best man win!'). However, this specific sentence sounds highly theatrical or literary because périr is a dramatic, formal verb. You are more likely to encounter this exact phrasing in a historical movie or a play.

Can I use pronouns instead of a noun in this structure? How would I say 'Let him perish!'?