Future tense French
I am confused in the construction of the imperative command in French.
I think I understand that in the present tense if you use the imperative in the positive sense such as " put it here " then the pronoun follows the verb " metez le ici "and in the negative sense " don't put it here" then the pronoun comes before the verb " ne le metez pas ici .

But is this the same for using the future tense "will put it here " and " will not put it here"
Sorry if this is obvious but I can't figure it out from the Michel Thomas course I have used so far to learn from .
Many Thanks for any help

Question

Future tense French
I am confused in the construction of the imperative command in French. 
I think I understand that in the present tense  if you use the imperative in the positive sense such as " put it here " then the pronoun follows the verb " metez le ici "and in the negative sense " don't put it here"  then the pronoun comes before the verb " ne le metez pas  ici .

But is this the same for using the future tense "will put it here " and " will not put it here" 
Sorry if this is obvious but I can't figure it out from the Michel Thomas course I have used so far to learn from .
Many Thanks for any help

Answer

Hello,

Without going into too much detail, you can sum it up that way :

A. The place of the pronouns in an affirmative clause using imperative is an exception. This is why pronouns follow the verb. When you write, do not forget the hyphen that links the pronoun(s) to the verb!

--> Mettez-LE, mettez-LA, mettez-LES ici  (put him/her/it/them here)  [affirmative]

In all other cases, the pronouns for direct or indirect object always precede the verb to which it is connected by meaning. Tense and/or negation play no role. That is :

a. in front of the conjugated verb
--> vous  LE / LA / LES mettez ici. (affirmative, indicative present)
--> vous ne LE / LA / LES mettez pas ici. (negative, indicative present)

b. with compound tenses (like passé composé), in front of the auxiliary verb (avoir or être).  But it's quite logical because, in a way, the auxiliary verb is the one that is conjugated and changes the most :)

--> vous L' / LES avez mis(e-s) ici. (affirmative, passé composé)
--> vous ne L' / LES avez pas mis(e-s) ici. (negative, passé composé)

c. in front of the infinitive :

--> vous voulez LE / LA / LES mettre ici (affirmative, infinitive)
--> vous ne voulez pas LE / LA / LES mettre ici. (negative, infinitive)

Again logical : the question for C. would be : "Where do you want them PUT", not "Where do you WANT them?", that's why pronouns precede the infinitive.

CONCLUSION :

Pronouns always PRECEDE the verb they are related to (conjugated or infinitive).
Imperative affirmative is an exception :)

Hope it helped!

Answer

No, it's not the same. 
Je le metterai là- affirmative sentence
Je ne le metterai pas là-negative sentence.
The pronoun goes just before the verb in both situations.

Answers · 2

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