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Allez, dégage, on ferme !

Allez, dégage, on ferme !
Come on, clear off, we are closing!
From Lesson 284:Informal French·French

Questions & Answers about Allez, dégage, on ferme !

Why does the speaker use allez (plural or formal) but then dégage (singular informal) right after?
In everyday French, allez often acts as a fixed expression meaning "come on" or "let's go". Because it has become a set interjection, people frequently use allez even when they are talking to just one person using the informal tu.
Is dégage a polite way to ask someone to leave?
Not at all! The verb dégager literally means to clear a space or unblock something, but as a command to a person, it translates closer to "get lost", "clear off", or "scram". It is very informal and can be quite aggressive or rude depending on the speaker's tone.
Why doesn't dégage end with an s if it is a command for tu?
For regular verbs ending in -er like dégager, the tu form of the imperative (the command form) drops the final s. So instead of dégages, it becomes dégage. This rule applies to all -er verbs when giving commands, unless they are immediately followed by the pronouns y or en.
Why use on ferme instead of nous fermons for "we are closing"?
In spoken and informal French, on almost completely replaces nous to mean "we". Since telling someone to "clear off" is already very casual and direct, using nous fermons would sound unnaturally formal and stiff in this situation. Using on ferme perfectly matches the conversational tone of the sentence.

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