![]() Sometimes, it is possible to use either à or dans with a subtle difference in meaning. You could argue that the last two are départements of France, but when it comes to islands, perhaps the best idea is just to remember each one individually. However, for French regions, the rules are different – use en (with no article) for feminine regions and dans (with an article) for masculine regions:įor big European islands, we use en whereas, for smaller islands, we use à – for example:įor islands further away from Europe, the preposition is usually à, regardless of size: Dans le Cambridgeshire (In Cambridgeshire).To talk about French departments and regions, English counties and provinces and states in other countries, use dans: Aux Philippines (fpl) (In the Philippines)įrench Départements And Regions, English Counties, States And Provinces In Other Countries.However, for plural countries, you use aux regardless of gender: When using French prepositions for countries, there is a special rule to follow: for masculine countries beginning with consonants, you use au – while feminine countries and masculine countries beginning with a vowel, you use en: Je suis en ville (I’m in town/in the town/in the city).However, to say “in town”, “in the town” or “in the city”, we use en ville: With cities, we usually use à, like this: ![]() ![]() Note that when used with masculine nouns, à is combined with le to make au. À l’hôpital (At the hospital, in hospital).However, in English, sometimes we would also use “in”. To say where something is, French preposition à is most frequently used and when used to express location, it can be thought of as meaning “at”. One of the most important uses of prepositions is expressing place, so here are some of the most common French prepositions of place. So let’s jump in and get started! French Prepositions Of Place Rather, I’m going to focus on some of the most important areas to introduce you to the French prepositions that will be most useful.Īfter that, mastering the rest will just be a matter of exposure and practice. If you look in almost any grammar book, you’ll find a list of French prepositions in alphabetical order, usually followed by a list of English prepositions for cross-reference.įor this reason, I’m not going to give you another exhaustive list here. Similarly, the English preposition “in” can be translated by dans, à, en, de and more in French. The problem is, each language has its own set, and although sometimes there are direct equivalents, often preposition usage varies significantly between languages.įor example, while the French proposition après has the direct English equivalent “after”, the preposition à can be translated by “at”, “in”, “to”, “of”, “by” or others, depending on its function. Prepositions are those small words like “to”, “in” or “by” that tell you how different parts of a sentence are related to each other. What Are French Prepositions And Why Are They So Tricky? If you’re ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial. With French Uncovered you’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn French naturally through story… not rules. However, there are still some useful tips, tricks and shortcuts that can help you master the basics – and that’s what I’ll try to give you in this post.īy the way, if you want to learn French fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is French Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®. A big part of mastering them simply comes through use, and there’s nothing that can replace this. When you learn French, French prepositions are likely to cause you trouble.
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