Moi/toi vs me/te in affirmative imperative

In a normal sentence, pronouns like me (me) and te (you) sit comfortably right before the verb. You say Tu me regardes (You are looking at me). However, when you switch to the "Imperative" mood—which is just a fancy way of saying "giving a command"—the sentence structure does a flip. For positive commands, French moves the pronoun after the verb. But there’s a catch! When me and te move to the post-verb position, they transform. me becomes moi and te becomes toi. To keep things tidy, we also add a hyphen (a little dash) between the verb and the pronoun. It’s like a grammar safety belt. Without that hyphen, the sentence might just float away. Interestingly, other pronouns like nous or vous don't change their form, only their position. Only our little friends me and te get the special makeover. Yes, even native speakers mess this up when they are tired, so don't sweat it too much!

1. 1Start with the verb in the imperative form (the command version of the verb).
2. 2Remove the subject (you don't need tu or nous).
3. 3Take your pronoun (me or te).
4. 4Move that pronoun to the end of the verb.
5. 5Change me into moi and te into toi.
6. 6Connect them with a hyphen: Verb-moi or Verb-toi.
7. 7For example: Lève + te becomes Lève-toi (Get up).

You use this pattern whenever you are giving a positive command, a piece of advice, or a direct request to someone.

• In a restaurant: If you want the waiter to bring you something, you might say Donnez-moi un café, s'il vous plaît.
• With friends: If you are playing a game and it’s your turn, you might tell your friend Aide-moi ! (Help me!).
• At work: If you need a colleague to call you later, you’d say Appelle-moi ce soir.
• Socializing: If you want someone to tell you a story, you say Raconte-moi une histoire.

Think of it as the "Action Mode" of French. Whenever the verb is the star of the show and you are directing the action toward yourself or the person you are talking to, this rule kicks in. It’s the linguistic equivalent of a spotlight.

Here is where it gets a bit sneaky. This rule only applies to affirmative imperatives (positive commands). If you tell someone *not* to do something, everything goes back to normal.

• Positive: Regarde-moi ! (Look at me!)
• Negative: Ne me regarde pas ! (Don't look at me!)

In the negative version, me stays as me and it goes back to its original spot before the verb. It’s like a grammar traffic light. Green light (positive) means "Go to the back and change clothes!" Red light (negative) means "Stay where you are and keep your pajamas on." This is the most common place where people trip up. Just remember: if you see ne...pas, the weird moi/toi forms disappear.

One of the biggest mistakes is forgetting the hyphen. In French writing, that little dash - is crucial. Writing Regarde moi without the dash is like wearing a suit with no shoes—it just looks unfinished to a French person. Another classic error is keeping the me or te in its original form. You might be tempted to say Regarde-me, but that sounds very strange to a native ear. It’s almost like saying "Look at I" in English. Finally, many people try to use moi and toi in negative commands. You might hear someone say Ne regarde pas moi, which is a total giveaway that they are still thinking in English. Always keep the pronoun tucked between the ne and the verb in negative sentences.

Don't confuse this with the standard use of moi and toi as stressed pronouns. You might already know moi from phrases like C'est moi (It's me) or Toi et moi (You and me). While they look the same, the imperative rule is specific to verb-pronoun pairs. Also, notice the difference between reflexive verbs and standard verbs. For a reflexive verb like se lever (to get up), the te becomes toi (Lève-toi). For a transitive verb like aider (to help), the me becomes moi (Aide-moi). The beauty is that the rule is the same for both! Whether the pronoun is reflexive or a direct object, if it’s me or te in a positive command, it follows the swap-and-change rule.