Walk into a French pharmacy and read the label on a box of paracetamol: Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite. Open a French cookbook: Mélanger la farine et le sucre, ajouter les œufs, faire cuire pendant 30 minutes. Glance at the door of a Paris commuter train: Ne pas se pencher au dehors. In every one of these contexts, the verb is in the infinitive — not the imperative, not a finite tense, but the bare dictionary form.
This is one of the most distinctive register features of written French and one that English speakers consistently miss. English uses a single form (the bare imperative) for both addressed commands ("Mix the flour") and impersonal instructions ("Do not exceed the prescribed dose"). French splits the two: addressed commands take the imperative; impersonal, generic, written-for-anyone instructions take the infinitive. Recognizing and producing this split is what separates a learner who reads recipes word by word from someone who reads them as a French person does.
What the instructional infinitive does
The instructional infinitive is impersonal. It addresses no one in particular — it speaks to any reader, anywhere, at any time. There is no implicit "you," no implicit "we," no specific addressee. It is the verb in its most generic, depersonalized form: a label on an action that anyone might perform.
Compare the two registers side by side:
Mélangez la farine et le sucre, puis ajoutez les œufs un à un. (vous-imperative — addresses the reader directly)
Mix the flour and sugar, then add the eggs one by one. (friendly recipe register)
Mélanger la farine et le sucre, puis ajouter les œufs un à un. (infinitive — impersonal instruction)
Mix the flour and sugar, then add the eggs one by one. (formal/professional recipe register)
The English translation is identical; the French is not. The choice between mélangez and mélanger is a register choice, and natives feel it sharply. Mélangez is what your grandmother says while standing next to you in the kitchen. Mélanger is what Le Larousse Gastronomique prints on the page.
The four canonical contexts
The instructional infinitive lives in four well-defined zones of written French. Outside these zones, it is rare; inside them, it is the default.
1. Recipes and cooking instructions
Professional cookbooks, packaged-food labels, and culinary magazines almost always use the infinitive. The vous-imperative is reserved for friendly home-cooking blogs and for recipes that explicitly address the reader.
Préchauffer le four à 180 degrés. Beurrer un moule à gâteau.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Butter a cake pan.
Battre les œufs en neige avec une pincée de sel.
Beat the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt.
Faire revenir les oignons dans l'huile chaude pendant cinq minutes.
Sauté the onions in hot oil for five minutes.
Laisser reposer la pâte une heure au réfrigérateur avant de l'utiliser.
Let the dough rest for an hour in the fridge before using it.
The construction faire + infinitive (faire cuire, faire revenir, faire bouillir, faire fondre) is one of the most common patterns in French cooking writing. It is the causative faire used to describe applying heat or transformation — covered in detail on the causative faire page.
2. Pharmacy and medication labels
Drug packaging in French uses the infinitive almost without exception. The reason is regulatory and legal — the instructions must address any user, in any circumstance, with maximal clarity and minimal interpersonal warmth.
Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite par le médecin.
Do not exceed the dose prescribed by the doctor.
Conserver à l'abri de la lumière et hors de portée des enfants.
Keep away from light and out of reach of children.
Avaler le comprimé avec un grand verre d'eau, sans le mâcher.
Swallow the tablet with a large glass of water, without chewing it.
En cas de doute, demander conseil à votre pharmacien.
If in doubt, ask your pharmacist.
Note the negative form: ne pas dépasser, ne pas mâcher, ne pas avaler. The negative particles ne and pas sit together before the infinitive, exactly as they do in any non-finite negation. This is one of the most visible markers of the instructional register.
3. Public signs and signage
Train carriages, museum displays, escalator notices, public-park rules — anywhere a sign needs to communicate a generic prohibition or instruction to anonymous passers-by, French reaches for the infinitive.
Ne pas se pencher au dehors. (notice on French commuter trains)
Do not lean out of the window.
Ne pas marcher sur les pelouses.
Do not walk on the grass.
Tenir la main courante.
Hold the handrail.
Pousser. / Tirer.
Push. / Pull. (door signs)
Insérer la pièce dans la fente.
Insert the coin in the slot.
Ralentir. (road sign)
Slow down.
The brevity of Pousser and Tirer on door signs is part of the register — the infinitive's impersonality matches the bluntness of a one-word instruction. Poussez and Tirez would feel oddly chummy on a door.
4. Forms, questionnaires, and administrative documents
When a French form gives instructions, it almost always uses the infinitive: Cocher la case correspondante, Compléter en lettres capitales, Joindre une copie de votre pièce d'identité. The reason is the same as for medication labels: the form addresses any reader, anonymously and uniformly.
Cocher la case correspondante.
Check the corresponding box.
Compléter le formulaire en lettres capitales.
Fill out the form in capital letters.
Joindre une copie de votre pièce d'identité.
Attach a copy of your ID.
Indiquer la date et signer ci-dessous.
Write the date and sign below.
In a slightly more conversational administrative register (a customer service email, for example), the same instructions might appear in the vous-imperative: Cochez la case, Complétez le formulaire. Both are correct; the choice is register.
When to choose vous-imperative vs. infinitive
Knowing the rule is one thing; knowing when to apply it is the harder skill. Use this guide:
| Context | Default form | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cookbook, professional recipe | Infinitive | Impersonal, written for any reader |
| Home-cooking blog, friendly recipe | Vous-imperative | Addresses the reader as a friend |
| Pharmacy / medical label | Infinitive | Regulatory, generic, anonymous reader |
| Doctor's verbal instruction | Vous-imperative | Direct address to a specific patient |
| Public sign (train, park, museum) | Infinitive | Anonymous passer-by, generic rule |
| Personal note ("Lock the door before you leave") | Vous- or tu-imperative | Specific addressee |
| Administrative form | Infinitive | Generic instruction to any filer |
| Customer service email | Vous-imperative | Specific customer, courteous tone |
| User manual (technical) | Infinitive (often) | Generic, written for any user |
| Friendly software help text | Vous-imperative | Conversational tone |
The pattern: anonymous + written + generic = infinitive. Specific addressee + interpersonal warmth = imperative.
Negative instructions: where the infinitive really shines
In negative instructions, the infinitive's appeal is even sharper. The vous-imperative Ne dépassez pas la dose prescrite sounds personal — almost reproachful, as if the writer is anticipating that you might. The infinitive Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite is neutral, generic, regulatory. It states the rule without any suggestion of distrust toward the reader.
Ne pas fumer dans les espaces communs.
No smoking in common areas.
Ne pas laisser à la portée des enfants.
Keep out of reach of children.
Ne pas exposer à la chaleur.
Do not expose to heat.
Ne pas immerger dans l'eau.
Do not immerse in water.
Ne pas toucher aux marchandises.
Do not touch the goods.
This is one reason French signage so heavily favors the infinitive: prohibition without confrontation. The English equivalent often resorts to "No" + gerund (No smoking, No parking) precisely to avoid the personal flavor of an imperative.
Reflexive verbs in the instructional infinitive
When the verb is pronominal, the reflexive pronoun comes along for the ride: se laver, se brosser, se pencher. In the instructional infinitive, the reflexive pronoun stays attached to the infinitive in its standard position.
Ne pas se pencher au dehors.
Do not lean out of the window.
Se laver les mains avant de manipuler les aliments.
Wash hands before handling food.
Se rincer la bouche après chaque utilisation.
Rinse mouth after each use.
The reflexive pronoun is invariable in the instructional infinitive — se, never me, te, nous, vous. This makes sense given the impersonal nature of the form: there is no specific person to agree with.
A literary cousin: infinitive narration
Beyond instructions, the infinitive occasionally appears in narrative French as a stylistic device — the so-called infinitif de narration. It is rare and largely confined to literature and journalism aiming for a vivid, telegraphic effect.
Et grenouilles de sauter dans l'onde claire. (literary, in the style of La Fontaine)
And frogs leapt into the clear water. (lit. 'and frogs of jumping into…')
Il a appuyé sur le bouton, et la machine de s'arrêter aussitôt. (literary)
He pressed the button, and the machine immediately stopped.
This infinitif de narration is recognition-only for B1 learners. You will encounter it in literary texts; you do not need to produce it.
The interaction with imperative-only contexts
Some imperative uses cannot be replaced by the infinitive. Direct address with a clear subject — a parent to a child, a coach to a player, one friend to another — calls for the imperative. Substituting an infinitive there would sound wrong, as if you were reading from a manual.
✅ Marie, ferme la porte, s'il te plaît.
Marie, close the door, please.
❌ Marie, fermer la porte, s'il te plaît.
Wrong register: direct address to a specific person requires the imperative.
Conversely, recipes and signs that try to use the imperative when the register calls for the infinitive sound oddly intimate. A French pharmacy box that read Ne dépassez pas la dose prescrite would feel almost confrontational.
A note on the veuillez + infinitive pattern
A formal-register cousin of the instructional infinitive is the construction veuillez + infinitive — an elevated polite imperative built from the vous form of the verb vouloir. It is the standard formula in formal letters, recorded phone messages, and official notices.
Veuillez patienter quelques instants. (recorded phone message)
Please hold for a moment.
Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. (formal letter closing)
Yours sincerely. (lit. please accept my distinguished greetings)
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document demandé. (business email)
Please find attached the requested document.
Veuillez is a true imperative (of vouloir), but it always governs an infinitive complement, so it pairs naturally with the same kind of bare-form verb that fills the instructional infinitive slot. In casual speech, veuillez is replaced by pouvez-vous + infinitive or by a polite vous-imperative.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using the vous-imperative on a public sign or pharmacy label.
❌ Ne dépassez pas la dose prescrite. (on a medication label)
Awkward register — pharmacy labels use the impersonal infinitive.
✅ Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite.
Do not exceed the prescribed dose.
Mistake 2: Using the instructional infinitive in personal instructions.
❌ Marie, fermer la fenêtre, il fait froid.
Wrong register — direct address requires the imperative.
✅ Marie, ferme la fenêtre, il fait froid.
Marie, close the window, it's cold.
Mistake 3: Splitting ne and pas around the infinitive.
❌ Ne dépasser pas la dose prescrite.
Wrong: with infinitives, ne and pas group together before the verb — ne pas dépasser.
✅ Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite.
Do not exceed the prescribed dose.
Mistake 4: Conjugating the infinitive in instructions.
❌ Mélangez la farine et le sucre. Ajoute les œufs un à un. Faire cuire 30 minutes.
Inconsistent register — pick one form (vous-imperative or infinitive) and stick with it through the recipe.
✅ Mélanger la farine et le sucre. Ajouter les œufs un à un. Faire cuire 30 minutes.
Mix the flour and sugar. Add the eggs one by one. Cook for 30 minutes.
Mistake 5: Dropping the reflexive pronoun in the instructional infinitive of pronominal verbs.
❌ Ne pas pencher au dehors.
Wrong: pencher is non-pronominal here, but the safety phrase requires the reflexive — se pencher (to lean over).
✅ Ne pas se pencher au dehors.
Do not lean out of the window.
Key takeaways
- The instructional infinitive is French's impersonal command form — used in recipes, pharmacy labels, public signs, and administrative forms.
- It is a register choice, not a casual variant of the imperative. Anonymous + written + generic = infinitive; specific addressee + interpersonal = imperative.
- Negative instructions: ne and pas group together before the infinitive: ne pas fumer, ne pas dépasser, ne pas se pencher.
- Pronominal verbs keep their reflexive pronoun, invariable: se laver, se rincer, se pencher.
- Veuillez
- infinitive is the formal-register polite cousin: veuillez patienter, veuillez trouver ci-joint.
- Mixing the imperative and infinitive within a single recipe or sign sounds inconsistent. Pick one register and stick with it.
- For English speakers, the instructional infinitive has no direct equivalent — English uses the same imperative form for both personal commands and impersonal instructions. French splits them. Internalize the split and you will read French signs and recipes the way a native does.
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