Breakdown of Donne-moi une allumette, s'il te plaît.
Questions & Answers about Donne-moi une allumette, s'il te plaît.
Why is there a hyphen used in Donne-moi?
In an affirmative imperative (a command or request), French attaches object pronouns to the verb with hyphens. You can’t write Donne moi without the hyphen—it must be Donne-moi, Prête-moi, Montre-nous, etc.
Why is the pronoun moi used instead of me?
French has two sets of object pronouns:
- Clitic pronouns like me, te, le/la, used in declarative sentences (e.g. Il me donne).
- Disjunctive pronouns like moi, toi, lui/elle, used:
- After hyphens in affirmative imperatives: Donne-moi.
- For emphasis or after prepositions: C’est pour moi.
In an affirmative command you always use the disjunctive form moi (and not me).
Why is there no “s” at the end of donne? I thought tu-forms usually end in -s.
For regular -er verbs (like donner), the tu form in the present indicative is tu donnes, but the tu form in the affirmative imperative drops that final -s:
- Present indicative: tu donnes
- Affirmative imperative: (tu) donne
Exception: you add the -s back if the verb is followed by en or y (e.g. Vas-y).
What does s’il te plaît literally mean, and why is it used here?
What’s the difference between s’il te plaît and s’il vous plaît?
Can I place s’il te plaît at the beginning of the sentence? Or can I drop it entirely?
How do I know allumette is feminine and takes une?
How would I ask for two matches instead of one?
How would this sentence change if I needed to be formal or talk to more than one person?
Switch to the vous imperative form and use s’il vous plaît:
Donnez-moi une allumette, s’il vous plaît.
In spoken French, do I announce the hyphen or pause?
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