Imperative and subjunctive without que

ann G.B2Kwiziq community member

Imperative and subjunctive without que

Could you please explain why the sentence « Alors, reste avec nous et sois notre soeur. »* appears to be using the subjunctive form of être if there is no "que" before it. It makes sense that "stay with us"  is in the imperative and "be our sister" is subjunctive in that it is a desire/hope/want. Is this just a special case or have I misunderstood the grammar?

*Quote from a traditional fairytale.

Asked 2 years ago
N. Hilary (Shamrockhill) W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Bonjour Ann,

Very good question. For the verb etre, the subjuncive happens to be identical to the imperative which is where your confusion may come from. In this case, "sois" is the Imperative form of etre in the second person singular. 

Hope that this helps.

Imperative and subjunctive without que

Could you please explain why the sentence « Alors, reste avec nous et sois notre soeur. »* appears to be using the subjunctive form of être if there is no "que" before it. It makes sense that "stay with us"  is in the imperative and "be our sister" is subjunctive in that it is a desire/hope/want. Is this just a special case or have I misunderstood the grammar?

*Quote from a traditional fairytale.

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Getting that for you now...