French for Giving Live Cooking Instructions: The Imperative in the Kitchen
Learn to guide someone through a recipe in real time in French using the tu and vous imperatives, sequencing words, and practical kitchen verbs.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
When you cook with someone in French, you rarely read a recipe aloud. You give live instructions: chop this, lower the heat, add the cream now. This lesson teaches the imperative forms French speakers actually use while cooking, how to sequence steps with d'abord, ensuite and puis, and how to adjust your tone between tu and vous depending on who is in your kitchen.
By the end, you can…
- give step-by-step cooking instructions in French using the imperative
- sequence actions with d'abord, ensuite, puis and enfin
- choose correctly between tu and vous when instructing someone in a kitchen
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
D'abord, épluche les oignons.
First, peel the onions.
dah-BOR, ay-PLOOSH lay zoh-NYON
Informal tu imperative of éplucher; use with a friend or family member. The final -e of épluche is silent.
Ensuite, fais revenir la viande à feu vif.
Then, brown the meat over high heat.
ahn-SWEET, fay ruh-vuh-NEER lah VYAND ah fuh VEEF
Fais is the tu imperative of faire. Faire revenir means to brown or sear, a standard technique verb.
Baisse le feu, sinon ça va brûler.
Turn down the heat, otherwise it will burn.
BESS luh fuh, see-NON sah vah BROO-lay
Baisse is the tu imperative of baisser. Sinon introduces a warning, very common in live cooking.
Ajoutez la crème hors du feu.
Add the cream off the heat.
ah-ZHOO-tay lah KREM or doo fuh
Vous form, appropriate with a teacher, colleague or someone you do not know well. Hors du feu means off the heat.
Goûtez, puis rectifiez l'assaisonnement.
Taste, then adjust the seasoning.
goo-TAY, pwee rek-tee-fee-ay lah-say-zon-MAHN
Vous form. Rectifier l'assaisonnement is the standard phrase for adjusting salt and pepper.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
French live cooking instructions normally use the imperative, which drops the subject pronoun: tu épluches becomes épluche, vous ajoutez becomes ajoutez, nous mélangeons becomes mélangeons. Regular -er verbs drop the -s in the tu form: tu goûtes gives goûte, tu mélanges gives mélange. Irregular verbs keep it: tu fais gives fais, tu prends gives prends, tu mets gives mets. For a group, use the nous form: Mélangeons tout, then Poursuivons.
When to use it
Use tu with friends, family and children, and vous with guests, teachers, colleagues or anyone you address formally. In a professional kitchen, vous is common even between colleagues, while a family kitchen is almost always tu. Soften a direct order with a question or a conditional: Tu peux baisser le feu ? or Tu pourrais éplucher les carottes, s'il te plaît. Add s'il te plaît or s'il vous plaît when the instruction is a favour rather than a shared task.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Bon, on commence. D'abord, épluche les oignons et coupe-les finement.
Right, let's start. First, peel the onions and cut them finely.bon, on koh-MAHNS. dah-BOR, ay-PLOOSH lay zoh-NYON ay koop lay fee-NUH-mahnD'accord. Je les mets dans la poêle avec un peu d'huile ?
Okay. Shall I put them in the pan with a little oil?dah-KOR. zhuh lay meh dahn lah PWAL ah-vek un puh DWEELOui, fais-les revenir doucement. Ensuite, ajoute la viande et baisse le feu.
Yes, brown them gently. Then add the meat and turn down the heat.wee, fay lay ruh-vuh-NEER doos-MAHN. ahn-SWEET, ah-ZHOOT lah VYAND ay BESS luh fuhC'est fait. On goûte maintenant ou on attend la fin ?
Done. Shall we taste now or wait until the end?say FAY. on GOOT mahn-tuh-NAHN oo on ah-TAHN lah FANA little context goes a long way
French home cooking often involves more collective tasting and discussion than a strict recipe allows. Saying on goûte ? or tu goûtes ? before adjusting seasoning is normal and collaborative. In a formal or professional setting, keep vous and prefer polite requests such as Vous pouvez baisser le feu, s'il vous plaît rather than bare imperatives, which can sound abrupt.
One thing to watch for
Using the infinitive as a command, as in Éplucher les oignons or Ajouter la crème, because English recipes often use bare verb forms.
Try this instead: In live spoken French, use the imperative: Épluche les oignons (tu) or Épluchez les oignons (vous). The infinitive appears mainly in written recipes and on packaging, not when instructing someone standing next to you.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How would you tell a close friend to lower the heat?
Show a sample answer
Baisse le feu.
Baisse is the tu imperative of baisser, with the final -s dropped as in regular -er verbs. Baissez le feu is also correct if you are using vous.
2Put these steps in order: puis, d'abord, enfin, ensuite.
Show a sample answer
d'abord, ensuite, puis, enfin
This is the usual chronological order for live instructions. Puis and ensuite are close in meaning and can sometimes be swapped, but d'abord opens and enfin closes the sequence.
3You are cooking with your partner's parents for the first time. How do you ask them to add the cream?
Show a sample answer
Ajoutez la crème, s'il vous plaît.
Vous is the safe choice with people you have just met, especially older adults. Adding s'il vous plaît softens the imperative. If they invite you to use tu, you can switch to Ajoute la crème.
In live French cooking, use the imperative with tu or vous, sequence with d'abord, ensuite, puis and enfin, and soften direct orders with s'il te plaît or s'il vous plaît when you are asking a favour.
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