If you open a French cookbook, a furniture-assembly manual, a public sign, or a pharmacy box, you will see the imperative in its most concentrated form. Instructional French is overwhelmingly imperative — but the language has two competing strategies, and choosing between them is a register decision that says something about the writer's tone.
The two strategies are: (1) the vous-imperative, which directly addresses the reader as if the writer were standing next to you saying Mélangez la farine et le sucre; and (2) the infinitive, which presents the action as an impersonal label rather than a command — Mélanger la farine et le sucre. Both are correct, both are common, and a single recipe collection might use one or the other depending on the publisher, the era, and the audience.
This page covers when each form is used, what registers they signal, and the small set of conventions you'll see in real instructional French — from the Préchauffez le four of Cuisine Actuelle to the Tirer / Pousser on every Parisian café door.
The vous-imperative: the traditional choice
The default form for instructions in French is the vous-imperative. Vous here is impersonal — it doesn't refer to a specific person but to "anyone reading this." It functions much like the impersonal you of English ("you whisk the eggs together") or the German man construction. The reader is treated as a polite but anonymous addressee.
This is the form used in:
- The vast majority of traditional cookbooks (especially anything published before about 1990).
- Operating manuals (washing machines, cars, software).
- Safety instructions on appliances and packaging.
- Public information signs (formal style).
- Recorded customer-service phone messages.
Préchauffez le four à 180 degrés.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Mélangez la farine, le sucre et la levure dans un grand bol.
Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl.
Ajoutez les œufs un par un en remuant.
Add the eggs one by one, stirring.
Faites cuire au four pendant 30 minutes, jusqu'à ce que la pâte soit dorée.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the batter is golden.
Insérez la batterie dans le compartiment, en respectant la polarité.
Insert the battery into the compartment, observing the polarity.
Branchez l'appareil et appuyez sur le bouton de mise en marche.
Plug in the device and press the power button.
The tone is direct but courteous — the vous form treats the reader as worth addressing in the formal register, even when the reader is anonymous. This is why it has been the default for centuries. It also has the advantage of being phonetically identical to the present indicative vous form, so anyone who can read the present can read these instructions.
The infinitive: the modern impersonal
The infinitive has emerged over the last few decades — and especially since the 2000s — as an alternative for written instructions. Instead of addressing the reader (vous), the infinitive presents each step as a generalized action label. Compare:
- Mélangez la farine — "Mix the flour" (instruction to vous).
- Mélanger la farine — "Mix the flour" / "To mix the flour" (action, no addressee).
The infinitive tone is more clinical, more neutral, more "list-like." It is the convention in:
- Modern lifestyle and food magazines (Elle à Table, Marmiton, blogs).
- Many contemporary cookbooks aimed at younger or less formal audiences.
- Pharmaceutical instructions (drug packets, posology).
- Certain types of public signs (Pousser, Tirer, Ralentir).
- Step-by-step lists in some technical writing.
Mélanger la farine et le sucre dans un saladier.
Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl. (infinitive — modern recipe register)
Préchauffer le four à 180 degrés.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Faire cuire 30 minutes à four moyen.
Bake for 30 minutes at medium heat.
Battre les œufs en neige.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Laisser refroidir avant de démouler.
Let it cool before unmolding.
Verser la pâte dans un moule beurré.
Pour the batter into a buttered pan.
The infinitive form is grammatically a bare lexical citation of the verb — the same form you would find as a dictionary entry. There is no person, no number, no tense; the action is presented in pure form, as if labeled rather than spoken.
Why the infinitive feels impersonal
The infinitive doesn't address anyone. It strips out the speaker-listener relationship that the imperative carries by definition. Préchauffez implicitly says "I (the writer) am telling you (the reader) to preheat." Préchauffer says "preheating: 180 degrees" — it is closer to a heading or a label than a sentence directed at a person.
This is why the infinitive is preferred in contexts where the writer wants to disappear:
- Pharmaceutical packaging — the manufacturer doesn't want to feel like it is "telling" the patient what to do; the infinitive presents dosing as objective fact.
- Public signs in some registers — Tirer (Pull) and Pousser (Push) on doors function as labels, not commands. There is no implied speaker.
- Modern recipes — the casual, informational tone of food blogs and magazines fits the infinitive's neutrality.
Prendre un comprimé matin et soir, au cours du repas.
Take one tablet morning and evening, with meals. (pharmacy posology)
Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite.
Do not exceed the prescribed dose. (negative infinitive — common in safety instructions)
Conserver à l'abri de la lumière.
Store away from light.
Tenir hors de portée des enfants.
Keep out of reach of children.
The negative infinitive (Ne pas + infinitive) is especially common because it sounds less brusque than the negative imperative. Ne fumez pas (formal vous) becomes Ne pas fumer (infinitive) on signs, packaging, and warnings. The infinitive softens the prohibition by removing the addressee.
Public signs: a mix of forms
Public signs in France use a mix of imperative and infinitive forms, and the choice is partly conventional, partly aesthetic, and partly tied to whoever installed the sign. There is no single rule. Some patterns:
| Sign | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pousser / Tirer | infinitive | Doors — almost universal |
| Poussez / Tirez | vous imperative | Less common but seen, especially in older buildings |
| Ralentir | infinitive | Road signs |
| Ralentissez | vous imperative | Variable on portable signs |
| Cédez le passage | vous imperative | "Yield" sign — fixed phrase |
| Stop | English | Same as elsewhere in Europe |
| Ne pas fumer | infinitive | Standard for prohibitions |
| Ne pas se pencher au dehors | infinitive | Famous old SNCF train warning |
| N'oubliez pas de composter | vous imperative | Old SNCF instruction |
| Attention au train | nominal | Just a noun phrase, no verb |
| Veuillez fermer la porte | vouloir imperative | "Please close the door" — formal |
Pousser pour ouvrir.
Push to open. (sign on a door)
Ne pas dépasser cette ligne.
Do not cross this line.
Ralentir, école.
Slow down, school.
Veuillez patienter, votre tour viendra.
Please wait, your turn will come. (recorded queue announcement)
The famous SNCF train warning Ne pas se pencher au dehors (Do not lean out) is one of the most-quoted infinitive instructions in French — it sounds bureaucratic and official precisely because of the impersonal infinitive form. A vous version (Ne vous penchez pas au dehors) would sound more like a friendly warning from a fellow passenger.
Recipes in detail: a real example
Let's compare two versions of the same instruction set — a simple gâteau au yaourt, the canonical first French baking recipe — written in vous and in the infinitive.
Vous-imperative version (traditional):
Préchauffez le four à 180°C. Versez le yaourt dans un saladier. Ajoutez le sucre, les œufs et l'huile, puis mélangez bien. Incorporez la farine et la levure. Versez la pâte dans un moule beurré. Faites cuire 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pour the yogurt into a bowl. Add the sugar, eggs and oil, then mix well. Incorporate the flour and baking powder. Pour the batter into a buttered pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Infinitive version (modern):
Préchauffer le four à 180°C. Verser le yaourt dans un saladier. Ajouter le sucre, les œufs et l'huile, puis bien mélanger. Incorporer la farine et la levure. Verser la pâte dans un moule beurré. Faire cuire 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pour the yogurt into a bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, and oil, then mix well. Incorporate the flour and baking powder. Pour the batter into a buttered pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Both are perfectly grammatical. Notice that the difference is purely the verb form — every other word stays the same. Ingredient names, prepositions, durations, temperatures: identical.
The vous version reads like someone speaking the instructions to you. The infinitive version reads like a labeled checklist. Choose based on the audience and the tone you want to set.
Mixing forms within a single text
Some real recipes mix the two forms. This is more common than textbooks acknowledge. A magazine recipe might use the infinitive for the main steps and switch to vous for asides or for advice:
Mélanger la pâte. Verser dans un moule. Si vous avez le temps, laissez reposer une heure avant de cuire.
Mix the batter. Pour into a pan. If you have time, let it rest for an hour before baking.
The shift from infinitive (Mélanger, Verser) to vous imperative (laissez reposer — and the vous relative si vous avez) flags the second sentence as a personal aside rather than a procedural step. This kind of micro-register shift is common in casual modern food writing and is worth noticing as a reader, even if you don't try to imitate it as a writer.
The tu-imperative is rare in instructional writing
The tu imperative does appear, but only in deliberately informal contexts:
- Cookbooks for children (Mélange la farine, ajoute le sucre).
- DIY blogs and craft instructions targeting friends-and-family audiences.
- Some YouTube cooking transcripts that mirror conversational speech.
Casse les œufs dans un bol. Ajoute le sucre. Mélange bien.
Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add the sugar. Mix well. (tu form — children's cookbook style)
Prends une feuille de papier. Plie-la en deux. Coupe le long du pli.
Take a sheet of paper. Fold it in half. Cut along the fold. (tu — children's craft project)
The tu imperative in instructions feels intimate and warm — like a parent or older sibling guiding the reader. In professional or general-audience writing, it would feel inappropriate.
Other instructional contexts
Beyond recipes and signs, the same vous-vs-infinitive choice plays out in:
Operating manuals
Branchez l'appareil sur une prise compatible. Appuyez sur le bouton on/off. Sélectionnez le programme désiré.
Plug the device into a compatible outlet. Press the on/off button. Select the desired program. (vous — typical of older manuals)
Brancher l'appareil. Appuyer sur on/off. Sélectionner le programme.
Plug in the device. Press on/off. Select the program. (infinitive — quick-reference card style)
Forms and applications
Remplissez le formulaire en lettres capitales.
Fill out the form in capital letters.
Cocher la case correspondante.
Check the appropriate box. (infinitive — bureaucratic form)
Pharmacy posology (always infinitive)
Prendre 1 comprimé matin et soir.
Take 1 tablet morning and evening.
Avaler avec un grand verre d'eau.
Swallow with a large glass of water.
Ne pas administrer aux enfants de moins de 12 ans.
Do not administer to children under 12.
The pharmacy convention is virtually 100% infinitive. The reason is regulatory: drug instructions are written to a generic "patient" without addressing them, and the impersonal infinitive captures this perfectly.
Customer-service announcements (always vouloir)
Veuillez patienter, un conseiller va vous répondre dans quelques instants.
Please wait, an advisor will be with you shortly.
Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
Please accept, Madam, Sir, the expression of my distinguished regards. (formal letter close)
The Veuillez + infinitive construction (using the irregular imperative of vouloir) is the formal "please" of French. It is reserved for high-formal contexts: business letters, recorded announcements, official notices.
Vocabulary: the verbs you'll see most often in recipes
| Verb | Translation | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| mélanger | to mix | combining ingredients |
| ajouter | to add | incrementally adding |
| verser | to pour | liquids |
| battre | to beat | eggs, cream |
| fouetter | to whisk | whisking actions |
| incorporer | to fold in / incorporate | gentle combining |
| préchauffer | to preheat | oven prep |
| cuire / faire cuire | to cook / to bake | most cooking actions |
| laisser cuire | to let cook | passive cooking time |
| laisser refroidir | to let cool | post-cooking |
| démouler | to unmold | turn out of pan |
| éplucher | to peel | vegetables, fruit |
| couper | to cut | general |
| hacher | to chop / mince | finely cutting |
| réserver | to set aside | reserving something for later |
| saupoudrer | to dust / sprinkle | dry topping |
Most of these verbs are -er verbs and follow regular conjugation patterns. Faire cuire (literally "make cook") is a causative construction that is the standard way to say "to bake" or "to cook" in recipes — see Faire causative for details.
Hachez finement les oignons et faites-les revenir dans une poêle avec un peu d'huile.
Finely chop the onions and sauté them in a pan with a little oil.
Saupoudrez de sucre glace avant de servir.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Translating English imperative directly without choosing a register.
English doesn't distinguish between vous-imperative and infinitive in instructions, so English speakers often default to one form without thinking. For modern cookbook writing or a quick-reference card, the infinitive may feel more natural; for a friendly, voiced instruction, vous is better.
❌ Tu mélanges la farine et le sucre. Tu ajoutes les œufs.
Stylistically off in a recipe — the tu register feels too casual unless aimed at children.
✅ Mélangez la farine et le sucre. Ajoutez les œufs.
Mix the flour and sugar. Add the eggs. (vous-imperative — standard for recipes)
Mistake 2: Using the infinitive for a spoken command.
The infinitive belongs to written instructions. In spoken French, addressing someone with an infinitive sounds bureaucratic or even comic.
❌ Mélanger la pâte, s'il te plaît. (said in conversation)
Wrong: in spoken French to a person, use the imperative — mélange la pâte (tu) or mélangez (vous).
✅ Mélange la pâte, s'il te plaît.
Mix the batter, please. (spoken to a friend)
Mistake 3: Mixing vous and tu within the same recipe.
Pick one and stay with it. Switching mid-recipe sounds disorganized.
❌ Mélangez la farine. Maintenant ajoute les œufs.
Wrong: switching from vous to tu mid-recipe is inconsistent.
✅ Mélangez la farine. Maintenant ajoutez les œufs.
Mix the flour. Now add the eggs.
Mistake 4: Forgetting the negative infinitive form on signs.
The negative imperative on signs is ne pas + infinitive, not ne... pas with a conjugated verb. Ne pas fumer, not Ne fumer pas.
❌ Ne fumer pas dans cette zone.
Wrong: with the infinitive, the negation is ne pas before the verb, not split around it.
✅ Ne pas fumer dans cette zone.
No smoking in this area.
Mistake 5: Using Veuillez in casual contexts.
Veuillez is high-formal. Using it with friends or in informal writing sounds bizarre — like saying "Kindly be advised" to a roommate.
❌ Veuillez fermer la porte, j'ai froid. (to your friend)
Wrong tone: this is the formal-letter register, used in business or official contexts.
✅ Tu peux fermer la porte ? J'ai froid.
Can you close the door? I'm cold. (informal request to a friend)
Key takeaways
- The two main forms for French instructional writing are the vous-imperative (traditional, addressing the reader) and the infinitive (modern, impersonal).
- Both are correct. The choice signals tone: vous is conversational and direct; the infinitive is clinical and label-like.
- Vous dominates traditional cookbooks, manuals, and customer-service contexts.
- The infinitive dominates pharmaceutical instructions, modern food magazines, and many public signs. The negative infinitive (Ne pas fumer) is especially common because it softens prohibitions.
- The tu-imperative is reserved for cookbooks aimed at children or deliberately informal contexts.
- Veuillez
- infinitive
- Pick one form per text and stay with it — mixing vous and tu (or vous and infinitive without a clear reason) sounds disorganized.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- L'Impératif: Overview of the French ImperativeA1 — The French imperative has just three forms — tu, nous, vous — and one of the cleanest systems in the language. Master the forms, the pronoun-position rules, and the politeness register, and you can give commands, make suggestions, follow recipes, and warn of dangers.
- L'Impératif: FormationA1 — The French imperative is built almost entirely from the present indicative — three forms, one consistent rule, and four irregular verbs. Once you know the present, you know 95% of the imperative.
- L'Infinitif dans les Instructions et RecettesB1 — On a French recipe, a pharmacy label, or a train sign, the verb is in the infinitive: Mélanger, Ne pas dépasser, Ne pas se pencher au dehors. The impersonal infinitive carries instructions where English uses the imperative — and choosing it correctly is a marker of register fluency.
- Adoucir l'Impératif: stratégies de politesseA2 — The bare French imperative is direct — sometimes too direct. French has a rich set of softening strategies, from the obligatory s'il vous plaît to indirect questions with pourriez-vous, and the choice you make says as much about your social calibration as about your grammar.
- L'Impératif dans les Instructions et RecettesA2 — French recipes and instructional texts choose between two forms: the vous-imperative (traditional, addressed to the reader) and the infinitive (modern, impersonal). Both are correct; the choice signals tone and register. Reading recipes fluently means recognizing both.
- Expressions: Cuisine et RecettesB1 — The full vocabulary of French cooking — heat verbs (faire cuire, faire mijoter, faire revenir), knife work (éplucher, hacher, émincer), measurements, recipe register, and the table-setting expressions every French speaker uses.