The spelling “appel moi” does not exist in correct French. The expected verbal form is “appelle,” conjugated in the second person singular of the present imperative, followed by a hyphen and the pronoun “moi.” Two errors often accumulate in “appel moi”: the confusion between the masculine noun “un appel” and the conjugated form of the verb appeler, and the omission of the mandatory hyphen before the object pronoun.
Doubling the “l” in the imperative: the phonetic logic of the verb appeler
The verb appeler is part of the -eler verbs that double the consonant before a silent “e.” In the present imperative, the second person singular gives “appelle,” with two “l”s, because the final “e” is silent. The mechanism is strictly phonetic: the doubling of the “l” opens the preceding vowel, which changes from [ə] to [ɛ].
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We observe that this logic applies to all tenses where the ending contains a silent “e”: “j’appelle,” “tu appelles,” “il appelle,” “ils appellent.” In the imperative, the form is identical to the present indicative, but without the “s” of the second person.
This is a point that many writers confuse: “tu appelles” (indicative) takes an “s,” while “appelle” (imperative) does not. To better understand the difference between appelle moi and appel moi, one must master these two mechanisms simultaneously, consonant doubling and the omission of the “s.”
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Imperative without “s”: why “appelle” and not “appelles”
The rule is categorical. First group verbs lose the “s” of the second person singular in the present imperative. “Appelle,” “mange,” “chante,” “regarde”: none of these imperatives take a final “s.”
The “s” only reappears before “en” or “y” for phonetic liaison reasons: “penses-y,” “vas-y.” This exception does not apply to “appelle-moi,” since “moi” begins with a consonant.
The error “appelles-moi” comes from contamination by the indicative form. The speaker mechanically reproduces “tu appelles” in an imperative context. Tools like Antidote or BonPatron automatically flag this mistake and suggest the correction to “appelle-moi.”
Mandatory hyphen between the verb and the object pronoun
The Lexicon of Typographic Rules in use at the National Printing Office reminds us that the hyphen is mandatory in the imperative followed by an object pronoun. “Appelle-moi,” “dis-lui,” “donne-le-nous”: the rule allows for no exceptions, including in digital interfaces (buttons, error messages, forms).
Writing “appelle moi” without a hyphen constitutes a typographical error distinct from the conjugation error. Both errors frequently accumulate in the spelling “appel moi,” which omits both the doubling of the “l” and the hyphen.
What the hyphen signals grammatically
The hyphen marks the syntactic link between the verb and its postposed object pronoun. In the affirmative imperative, the pronoun is placed after the verb. This postposition triggers the hyphen. In the negative imperative, the pronoun moves back in front of the verb and the hyphen disappears: “ne m’appelle pas.”
The presence or absence of the hyphen modifies the grammatical reading of the sentence. Without a hyphen, “appelle moi” could theoretically be analyzed as two disjoint elements, which makes no sense in this context.
Masculine noun “appel” versus verbal form “appelle”: two distinct grammatical natures
“Un appel” is a masculine common noun. It ends with a single “l” and never takes a final “e.” “Appelle” is a conjugated form of the verb appeler (first or third person of the present indicative, or second person of the imperative). These two words do not belong to the same grammatical category.
The substitution test is immediate: if you can replace the word with another noun (“un message,” “un coup de fil”), it is the noun “appel.” If you can replace it with another conjugated verb (“téléphone,” “contacte”), it is the verbal form “appelle.”
- Noun: “I received a call this morning.” – replaceable with “a message”
- Verb (indicative): “She calls her mother every evening.” – replaceable with “contacts”
- Verb (imperative): “Call me tomorrow.” – replaceable with “contact me”
Summary of correct and incorrect spellings
| Spelling | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Appelle-moi | Correct | Present imperative, doubling of “l,” hyphen |
| Appelles-moi | Incorrect | The “s” does not exist in the imperative of first group verbs |
| Appel-moi | Incorrect | Confusion noun/verb, single “l” |
| Appelle moi | Incorrect | Missing hyphen |
| Appel moi | Incorrect | Cumulative of both errors |
School grammars published by Nathan or Hatier use “appelle-moi” as a canonical example in chapters dedicated to the imperative. Online French corpora show a clear decline in incorrect forms in written press. However, these errors persist on social media and in digital exchanges.
The next time you hesitate, apply the substitution test: if “contact me” works, it is indeed “appelle-moi” that should be written, with two “l”s, without “s,” and with a hyphen.