French with Pierrick

Tag: french prepositions

french prepositions

  • French prepositions for countries, cities and continents

    The 4 different prepositions we use in French for countries, states, provinces, cities and continents are: “en“, “au“, “aux” and “à“.

    1. Countries, states and provinces

    1. First, we use the preposition “en” in front of feminine names or masculine which start with a vowel, for instance:
    • En France (feminine) / In France
    • En Équateur (masculine) / In Equator
    • En Californie (feminine) / In California
    • En Ontario (masculine) / In Ontario

    Generally, country names ending in “e” are feminine but there are a couple of exceptions like “le Mexique”.

    1. We use the preposition “au” in front of masculine names that do not start with a vowel like:
    • Au Portugal (masculine) / In Portugal
    • Au Brésil (masculine) / In Brazil
    • Au Texas (masculine) / In Texas
    • Au Québec (masculine) / In Quebec
    1. Also, we use the preposition “aux” in front of plural names, for example:
    • Aux États-Unis (plural) / In the United States
    • Aux Pays-Bas (plural) / In the Netherlands
    1. Lastly, we use the preposition “à” in front of country names without an article like:
    • À Malte / In Malta
    • À Madagascar / In Madagascar

    2. Cities

    We also use the preposition “à“ in front of every city names, like:

    • À Paris / In Paris
    • À Sidney / In Sidney

    3. Continents

    To finish, we use the French preposition “en” in front of every continent, for example:

    • En Asie / In Asia
    • En Afrique / In Africa

    Find my other post about French grammar here.

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  • French prepositions of time

    Here are 9 French prepositions of time (depuis, pendant, pour, il y a, dans, jusqu’à, en, de… à and d’ici) and when to use them.

    Depuis

    “Depuis” is used to talk about a period of time which started in the past and continues in the present.

    • Je te connais depuis que j’ai dix ans. I have known you since I’m ten years old.
    • Elle t’attend depuis cinq minutes. She’s been waiting for you for five minutes.

    Pendant

    “Pendant” is used to talk about past and future actions of a limited period of time.

    • J’ai habité au Canada pendant un an. I lived in Canada for a year.
    • Il sera en vacances pendant deux semaines. He will be on holiday for two weeks.

    Pour

    “Pour” is used to talk about future plans.

    • Je pars travailler en France pour six mois. I’m going to work in France for six months.

    Il y a

    We use “Il y a” to talk about a moment in the past.

    • Il est allé au Mexique il y a trois ans. He went to Mexico three years ago.

    Dans

    “Dans” is used to talk about a moment in the future.

    • J’ai un entretien dans une semaine. I have an interview in one week’s time.

    Jusqu’à

    “Jusqu’à/jusqu’aux/jusqu’en” are used to talk about the end of a period of time.

    • Je serai en Irlande jusqu’à la fin du mois. I will be in Ireland until the end of the month.
    • Nous travaillons jusqu’aux vacances de Noël. We are working until the Christmas holidays.
    • Je reste ici jusqu’en avril. I will stay here until April.

    En

    We use “en” to talk about a date or the time required to complete an action.

    • Je suis allé aux États-Unis en 2010. I went to the United States in 2010.
    • J’ai fait mes courses en vingt minutes. I did my shopping in twenty minutes.

    De… à

    The prepositions “de… à” is used to limit a period of time.

    • Le supermarché est ouvert de 8h à 21h. The supermarket is open from 8am to 9pm.

    D’ici

    Lastly, “d’ici” is the equivalent of by in English.

    • Je veux parler couramment français d’ici la fin de l’année. I want to be fluent in French by the end of the year.

    Find my other post about French grammar here.

    Thank you for reading this post. Feel free to share it if you liked it.

    Watch a video of this content on my YouTube channel.

    Book a French lesson with me on italki.