It is lève-toi when positive, but ne te lève pas when negative.
Why does the pronoun itself and its position change? Is this an inconsistency? What does native speakers think about it?
1 Answer
The "irregular" form is the positive imperative which uses the stressed pronoun toi after the verb.
Lève-toi !
All other French tenses use the unstressed reflexive pronoun te:
Tu te lèves
Tu ne te lèves pas
Tu t'es levé
Ne te lève pas !
...
It's a pattern among romance languages imperatives:
Spanish: ¡Levantate! / ¡No te levanta!
Italian: Alzati! / * Non ti alzare! (but also Non alzarti)
Catalan: Aixeca't! / No t’aixequis!
Romanian: Ridică-te! / Nu te ridica!
In spoken French, ne is often dropped leading to:
Te lève pas !
A more radical evolution builds the negative imperative from the positive :
Lève-toi pas !
This last form is probably not in your French grammar book, though.
-
Thank you. So is this an inconsistency in your opinion? Also have you ever heard some native speaker using Lève-toi pas ? What about Ne lève-toi pas ?– Xfce4Aug 28, 2021 at 23:54
-
2As a native speaker, I don't feel it like an inconsistency. It's just the way it is and has always been... I have heard people saying Lève-toi pas ! but only in informal situations, or kids. I don't think I would ever say lève-toi pas ! however, I sometimes says Prends-le pas ! instead of Ne le prends pas !– jlliagreAug 29, 2021 at 0:19
-
3