What is an impersonal order in French?

An instruction with no addressee, given in the infinitive instead of the imperative: agiter avant emploi, ne pas repasser, ralentir. It is the standard form on labels, road signs, forms, and printed recipes, where the writer cannot know who is reading.

Why do French recipes use the infinitive?

Because an imperative would have to choose between tu and vous, and a printed book has no way of deciding. The infinitive sidesteps the problem: préchauffer le four is an instruction to whoever happens to be cooking. Magazines and blogs, which cultivate a chattier voice, often use vous instead.

How do you write do not on a French sign?

Ne pas plus the infinitive, with both negative words in front: ne pas toucher, ne pas ouvrir, ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite. For a stronger ban you can use défense de plus an infinitive, or drop the verb altogether and write stationnement interdit.

What is the difference between défense de and prière de?

Défense de is a prohibition with no room for negotiation: défense d'entrer, no entry. Prière de is a polite request: prière de ne pas déranger, please do not disturb. Il est interdit de sits between them and sounds like a regulation being quoted.

Does à plus an infinitive count as an order?

It functions as one, though it reads more like a specification than a command. À consommer avant le 12 mai means use by 12 May, and les sacs sont à déposer à l'entrée means bags are to be left at the entrance. The action is presented as still outstanding rather than demanded of anyone.

French grammar · Intermediate

Impersonal Orders in French: The Infinitive on Signs and in Recipes

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

An impersonal order tells nobody in particular what to do. French gives it in the infinitive rather than the imperative — mélanger, ne pas toucher, ralentir — which is why recipes, road signs, and instruction leaflets read so differently from spoken commands. The negative stays in one block in front of the verb: ne pas fumer, never ne fumer pas.

Ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite.

Do not exceed the prescribed dose.

What it is

A spoken order has to choose between tu and vous, and in choosing it also decides how familiar the speaker is being. A printed instruction cannot make that choice: a jar of jam has no idea who is reading it. French gets round the problem by putting the order in the infinitive, the one verb form with no person attached at all.

Ajouter le beurre, puis mélanger jusqu'à obtenir une pâte lisse. — Add the butter, then mix until you get a smooth dough.

How to spot it

If a French instruction uses a verb that has not been conjugated, it is an impersonal order. The negation is the clearest tell: ne pas sits as a unit in front of the verb instead of splitting around it.

Ne pas repasser. — Do not iron. (clothing label)
Servir frais. — Serve chilled.
Voir au verso. — See overleaf.
Conserver au frais. — Keep refrigerated.

Compare the spoken version, ne repassez pas ce pull, where ne and pas separate and land either side of the conjugated verb.

Impersonal Orders Quick Reference

How French phrases an instruction with no addressee

Structure	Where you meet it	Example
Bare infinitive	recipes, manuals	Battre les œufs. — Beat the eggs.
Ne pas + infinitive	warnings, labels	Ne pas laver à chaud. — Do not wash hot.
Défense de + infinitive	flat prohibitions	Défense d'entrer. — No entry.
Prière de + infinitive	polite notices	Prière de fermer la porte. — Please close the door.
Il est interdit de + inf.	regulations	Il est interdit de courir. — Running is not allowed.
Il faut + infinitive	general requirement	Il faut composter son billet. — You must validate your ticket.
À + infinitive	labels and dates	À consommer avant le 12 mai. — Use by 12 May.
Noun + interdit	shortest signs	Stationnement interdit. — No parking.

Common Impersonal Orders Examples in French

Impersonal orders in the places you actually read them:

Recipes and Instructions

Préchauffer le four à 180 degrés.: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Incorporer la farine peu à peu.: Fold in the flour gradually.
Laisser reposer une heure.: Leave to rest for an hour.
Saler et poivrer selon le goût.: Season with salt and pepper to taste.

A printed French recipe is a list of infinitives from the first line to the last. Using the imperative would force the writer to guess whether the reader is tu or vous.

Warnings and Prohibitions

Ne pas toucher.: Do not touch.
Ne pas laisser à la portée des enfants.: Keep out of reach of children.
Défense d'afficher.: No fly-posting.
Il est interdit de fumer dans les locaux.: Smoking is prohibited on the premises.

Ne pas stays glued together in front of the infinitive. That block is the single most reliable way to recognise an impersonal order in writing.

Road Signs and Public Notices

Ralentir: Slow down
Céder le passage: Give way
Ne pas stationner devant la sortie: No parking in front of the exit
Prière de ne pas déranger: Please do not disturb

Signs drop the full stop and often the article as well. Prière de is the polite register, défense de the flat one, and a bare infinitive sits between the two.

Requirements Rather Than Commands

Il faut présenter une pièce d'identité.: You have to show identification.
On doit éteindre son téléphone.: Phones must be switched off.
Le billet doit être composté.: The ticket must be validated.
Les sacs sont à déposer à l'entrée.: Bags are to be left at the entrance.

Il faut, on doit, and the passive all issue an instruction without naming anyone, which makes them usable in speech as well as in print.

How Impersonal Orders Are Built

The infinitive does the work, and everything that would normally cling to a conjugated verb moves in front of it.

The Infinitive Has No Person

That is the whole point of using it. Agiter names the action and says nothing about who should perform it, which is exactly what a label needs when it cannot see its reader.

Agiter avant emploi.

Shake before use.

No person, so no addressee to choose.

Ne Pas Stays Together in Front

A conjugated verb sits between ne and pas. An infinitive does not: both negative words go in front of it as a single unit. This is the structural difference that most often catches learners out.

Ne pas ouvrir avant l'arrêt complet du train.

Do not open until the train has come to a complete stop.

ne pas + infinitive, both words leading.

Object and Reflexive Pronouns Go in Front Too

Because the infinitive is not conjugated, nothing can be hung off the back of it with hyphens. Pronouns take their ordinary position immediately before the verb, and a reflexive stays in the neutral form se.

Ne pas se pencher au dehors.

Do not lean out of the window.

se, le, les — all in front, no hyphens.

Défense De and Prière De Set the Register

Both introduce an infinitive and both mean the instruction is not open to discussion, but défense de is a flat ban while prière de is a request. Il est interdit de is the legal register between them.

Défense de stationner devant le portail.

No parking in front of the gate.

Défense = ban, prière = request.

À + Infinitive Marks Something Still to Be Done

This construction turns the verb into a passive instruction: the thing described is waiting to have the action performed on it. It is standard on packaging, forms, and estate agents' boards.

À conserver au réfrigérateur après ouverture.

Keep refrigerated once opened.

à + infinitive = to be done.

Common Mistakes with Impersonal Orders

Incorrect: Ne fumer pas. — No smoking.

Correct: Ne pas fumer. — No smoking.

Ne and pas split around a conjugated verb, and an infinitive is not conjugated. In front of an infinitive they stay together as a block.

Incorrect: Ne pas fumez ici. — No smoking here.

Correct: Ne pas fumer ici. — No smoking here.

The two structures get spliced together. Ne pas belongs with an infinitive; a conjugated fumez needs ne … pas wrapped around it. Choose one and stay inside it.

Incorrect: Défense de entrer. — No entry.

Correct: Défense d'entrer. — No entry.

De elides in front of a vowel, so it becomes d' before entrer, ouvrir, and afficher. The full form survives only in front of a consonant, as in défense de fumer.

Incorrect: Entrée interdit — No entry

Correct: Entrée interdite — No entry

Interdit here is a past participle doing an adjective's job, so it agrees with the noun it follows. Entrée is feminine and adds the -e; the masculine stationnement takes nothing.

Signs That Use No Verb at All

The shortest French notices strip out the verb entirely, and a couple of categories go the other way and address you directly.

Noun plus interdit

The tersest prohibitions drop the verb and let a past participle act as an adjective, agreeing with the noun in front of it.

Stationnement interdit: No parking
Entrée interdite: No entry
Baignade interdite: No swimming
Accès réservé au personnel: Staff only

The agreement is the only grammar left in the sign: interdit with the masculine stationnement, interdite with the feminine entrée and baignade.

Where signs use the imperative after all

A few kinds of notice do address the reader, usually because they expect a physical action from whoever is standing right there.

Poussez: Push (on a door)
Composez votre code: Enter your PIN
Appuyez sur le bouton vert: Press the green button

Machines and doors tend to use vous. Packaging and legal notices stay with the infinitive, and pousser and tirer also appear on doors, equally correctly.

Recipes that have drifted into the second person

Printed cookbooks keep the infinitive, but magazines, blogs, and television cookery have largely moved to the vous imperative.

Mélangez le tout et réservez au frais.: Mix everything together and chill it.
Faites revenir les oignons.: Fry the onions off.
Laissez cuire vingt minutes.: Cook for twenty minutes.

Both styles are correct. The infinitive reads as neutral instruction; the vous imperative reads as somebody talking you through it.

Impersonal Orders FAQs

What is an impersonal order in French?: An instruction with no addressee, given in the infinitive instead of the imperative: agiter avant emploi, ne pas repasser, ralentir. It is the standard form on labels, road signs, forms, and printed recipes, where the writer cannot know who is reading.
Why do French recipes use the infinitive?: Because an imperative would have to choose between tu and vous, and a printed book has no way of deciding. The infinitive sidesteps the problem: préchauffer le four is an instruction to whoever happens to be cooking. Magazines and blogs, which cultivate a chattier voice, often use vous instead.
How do you write do not on a French sign?: Ne pas plus the infinitive, with both negative words in front: ne pas toucher, ne pas ouvrir, ne pas dépasser la dose prescrite. For a stronger ban you can use défense de plus an infinitive, or drop the verb altogether and write stationnement interdit.
What is the difference between défense de and prière de?: Défense de is a prohibition with no room for negotiation: défense d'entrer, no entry. Prière de is a polite request: prière de ne pas déranger, please do not disturb. Il est interdit de sits between them and sounds like a regulation being quoted.
Does à plus an infinitive count as an order?: It functions as one, though it reads more like a specification than a command. À consommer avant le 12 mai means use by 12 May, and les sacs sont à déposer à l'entrée means bags are to be left at the entrance. The action is presented as still outstanding rather than demanded of anyone.