CONTENT
  1. Prepositions of Place
  2. Prepositions of Place vs. Geographic Places
  3. Prepositions of Time
  4. Other Important Prepositions
  5. Fusion of À with Articles
  6. Chez vs. À
  7. Verbs with Prepositions

In French, there are many rules regarding the use of the prepositions. Let's take a closer look at them.

French

English

Nous sommes allés à l'école.

We went to school.

Prepositions of Place

Rule 1: To express indication of places in French, the prepositions of place are used. You can combine them with nouns or pronouns.

dans in
sous under
sur over
devant in front of
derrière behind
à gauche de left of
à droite de right of
au milieu de in the middle of
à côté de next to
en face de opposite
chez at/to (someone’s place)
contre against
dans in
sous under
sur over
devant in front of
derrière behind
à gauche de left of
à droite de right of
au milieu de in the middle of
à côté de next to
en face de opposite
chez at/to (someone’s place)
contre against

Here's an example:

French

English

Le livre est sur la table.

The book is on the table.

Prepositions of Place vs. Geographic Places

Most French prepositions of place and time can be translated directly from English. They are also pretty easy to use. However, that is not the thing with the geographic indicators.

Rule 2: There are four prepositions of place you can use with geographical places: en, au, aux and à. Here's how they are used:

En, au, and aux are all used with country names.

- en is used with feminine nouns ending in -e and all nouns starting with a vowel or a mute h.

French

English

Je suis en France.

I am in France.

Je vais en Iran.

I'm going to Iran.

- au is used masculine nouns and nouns ending in a consonant.

French

English

Je vais au Canada.

I'm going to Canada.

Je suis au Japon.

I am in Japan.

- aux is used with plural nouns.

French

English

Je vais aux États-Unis.

I am going to the United States.

- à is used with city names.

French

English

Je suis à Paris.

I am in Paris.

Prepositions of Time

Rule 3: To express indication of time in French, the prepositions of time are used. You can combine

them with nouns or pronouns.

à at/in
avant before
après after
depuis since/for
jusqu'à until
de ... à from ... to
dans in
pendant during/for
à at/in
avant before
après after
depuis since/for
jusqu'à until
de ... à from ... to
dans in
pendant during/for

Here's an example:

French

English

Nous avons mangé pendant la pause.

We ate lunch during the break.

Other Important Prepositions

à by, [is also used for describing a purpose or material]
avec with
de of, by, from
en made of, by
pour for
sans without
à by, [is also used for describing a purpose or material]
avec with
de of, by, from
en made of, by
pour for
sans without

Here are a few examples:

French

English

J'y suis allé en train.

I went there by train.

Une page du livre.

A page of the book.

Une tasse de café sans lait.

A cup of coffee without milk.

Fusion of À with Articles

Rule 4: The preposition à is combined with the articles le and les to make one word:

  • à + le = au
  • à + les = aux

Note: Be careful, the articles la and l‘ do not merge.

French

English

Je vais au cinéma / tu vas à la boulangerie / il va aux États-Unis.

I go to the movies / you go to the bakery / he goes to the United States.

Chez vs. À

Rule 5: Chez (at) refers to the place where someone lives or does a particular job. It's also commonly used with the name of the company.

French

English

Chez moi, chez Lola, chez le boucher, chez Amazon.

At my house, at Lola's, at the butcher's, at Amazon.

In all other cases, à is used.

French

English

Au travail, à la bibliothèque.

At work, at the library.

Verbs with Prepositions

Rule 6: For certain verbs, the infinitive follows without a preposition, e.g. for movement verbs and verbs that express opinions or wishes.

French

English

Il part marcher dans la foret.

He's going for a walk in the forest.

- For some other verbs, the preposition de + infinitive follows:

French

English

Il refuse de travailler.

He's refusing to work.

- For some other verbs, the preposition à + infinitive follows:

French

English

Je l'encourage à travailler.

I encourage him to work.

Quiz

1/4

The book is behind the vase.

0

correct answers.