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When you are organizing donations or assigning tasks, you often need to describe things that *need to be done*—like "clothes to wash," "objects to tag," or "a pile to sort." French handles this with a simple construction using the preposition **à**.

### The Structure: Noun + "à" + Infinitive

To describe an object that requires an action, place **à** immediately after the noun, followed by the infinitive form of the verb. 

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This is sometimes called the "passive infinitive" because the noun is receiving the action. The pile isn't sorting itself; it is *to be sorted*.

### Everyday Tasks

This construction is incredibly common in everyday French for organizing chores or workflow, such as at a charity thrift store (*la friperie*). 

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### Adding Adjectives

If you need to describe the noun with an adjective, place the adjective in its normal position (usually right after the noun) before adding the **à + infinitive** structure. 

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### Using with General Nouns

You can also use this structure with general nouns like *des choses* (things) or *des vêtements* (clothes) when describing what someone has brought or has to do.

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Passive infinitive (à + infinitive)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and elision (le, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, une)

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
to (passive infinitive after a noun)	à
the thrift store	la friperie
the pile (organized stack)	la pile
Welcome to the thrift store, here is the first pile to sort.	Bienvenue à la friperie, voici la première pile à trier.
It is a matter of looking for the coats to repair.	Il s'agit de chercher les manteaux à réparer.
the hanger	le cintre
to hang	suspendre
The volunteer gave us hangers for the clothes to hang.	Le bénévole nous a donné des cintres pour les vêtements à suspendre.
to tag	étiqueter
the bin	le bac
Put the objects to tag in the green bin.	Mettez les objets à étiqueter dans le bac vert.
salvageable	récupérable
to pack	emballer
Take the one that is salvageable, it is a toy to pack.	Prends celui qui est récupérable, c'est un jouet à emballer.
used	usagé
The more bins he brings, the more used clothes we have to sort.	Plus il apporte de bacs, plus nous avons de vêtements usagés à trier.
Let's finish this pile of books to tag before the boss arrives.	Finissons cette pile de livres à étiqueter avant que le chef n'arrive.
We still have dresses to hang on a hanger.	Nous avons encore des robes à suspendre sur un cintre.
Even if this sweater is dirty, it is a salvageable piece of clothing to wash.	Même si ce pull est sale, c'est un vêtement récupérable à laver.
We have used shoes to pack right away.	Nous avons des chaussures usagées à emballer tout de suite.
the donor	le donateur
The donor has clothes to give to the thrift store.	Le donateur a des vêtements à donner à la friperie.
The donor brought things to sort.	Le donateur a apporté des choses à trier.