I have been teaching French online since late-2013 and one of the most common mistakes I’ve heard students make is confusing ordonner commander. In short, ordonner means to order a person to do something and commander means to order something in a restaurant or bar. This post will provide some great example sentences.
Before moving any further, let’s take a quick look at the verbs in the present tense:
| ORDONNER | COMMANDER |
| j'ordonne tu ordonnes il, elle, on ordonne nous ordonnons vous ordonnez ils, elles ordonnent | je commande tu commandes il, elle, on commande nous commandons vous commandez ils, elles commandent |
ordonner usage
First let’s take a look at ordonner. Specifically, the usage is as follows: ‘ordonner à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose‘ – to order somebody to do something. Let’s look at some example sentences:
- Je vous ordonne d’apprendre ces verbes. I order you to learn these verbs.
- Je lui ordonne de mettre un masque ! I’m ordering him to wear a mask!
- Il nous ordonne d’aller voter. He’s ordering us to go vote.
Separately, ordonner has two other usages: 1) to put in order (e.g. numerically or alphabetically) and 2) to tidy, organize or put in order. Example sentences:
- J’ordonne les chiffres du plus petit au plus grand. I put the numbers in order from least to greatest.
- J’ordonne toujours mes affaires avant de faire un voyage. I always put my things in order before taking a trip.
commander usage
Commander also means to order but it specifically means to order something as in to ‘order online’.
- Je commande tous mes manuels scolaires en ligne. I order all my textbooks online.
- Vous êtes prêts a commander ? Are you ready to order?
- Je vais commander le filet mignon. I’m going to order the filet mignon.
To confuse matters, you can also say, ‘commander à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose‘ to mean ‘to order somebody to do something’. Here’s an example sentence:
- Le professeur commmande aux étudiants de se taire. The teacher order the students to be quiet.
Lastly, commander also means to be in charge of or to order around. For example:
- Le patron commande ses employés. The boss is in charge of his employees.
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About David Issokson
Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
