Speed Up Your French: Strategies to avoid common errors (2016)

The correct use of prepositions is a good indication of your mastery of French. It is an area where English learners are particularly prone to make mistakes, because usage is so idiomatic and frequently different from English. Native speakers know instinctively which preposition to use and when not to use one at all. This chapter draws your attention to the most significant points of difference between English and French, and provides a variety of exercises to practise and test what you have learnt.

Prepositions used in expressions of place

In English, we use prepositions to distinguish between movement to a place and location at or in it. In French, no such distinction is made. Instead prepositional usage varies according to whether a town, country, region or island is involved, and according to the gender of the country or region.

1 À is used before the name of a town, e.g.

Nous allons à Paris demain. Nos cousins nous rejoindront à Paris.

(We are going to Paris tomorrow. Our cousins will meet up with us in Paris.)

If the name of the town, e.g. Le Havre, includes the definite article le, à combines with it to give au, e.g.

L’action du film Quai des brumes se déroule au Havre.

(The action of the film Quai des brumes takes place in Le Havre.)

2 À + definite article is used before the masculine name of a country, e.g.

Je vais au Maroc cet été.

(I’m going to Morocco this summer.)

Il passe trois mois au Maroc.

(He is spending three months in Morocco.)

Aux is used before plural names of countries and groups of islands, e.g.

Nos cousins vont aux États-Unis.

(Our cousins are going to the United States.)

Elle a élu domicile aux Antilles.

(She has taken up residence in the West Indies.)

3 À alone is used before the feminine names of some islands that are also countries, e.g.

Elle habite à Chypre. Il va à Malte.

(She lives in Cyprus. He is going to Malta.)

À + la is used before the feminine names of some small (usually non-European) islands, e.g.

Elle va à la Martinique. Ils font leurs études à la Réunion.

(She is going to Martinique. They are studying in Réunion.)

4 En is used before the feminine name of a country or region or a large island that is not also a country, e.g.

Nous allons en Suisse l’année prochaine après avoir passé quatre ans à l’université en Écosse.

(We’re going to Switzerland next year after having spent four years at university in Scotland.)

Cet été nous allons passer les vacances en Toscane et en Sicile.

(This summer we’re going to spend the holidays in Tuscany and in Sicily.)

En is also used before the masculine singular name of a country, region or province beginning with a vowel, e.g.

Ils vont en Israël cet automne.

(They are going to Israel this autumn.)

Ils habitent en Anjou / en Ontario.

(They live in Anjou / in Ontario.)

5 Most countries / regions ending in -e are feminine, but there are exceptions, e.g. le Mexique (Mexico).

Note the difference in French between Mexico City and the country Mexico:

Mexico est la capitale du Mexique.

(Mexico City is the capital of Mexico.)

6 Use of dans

Dans is used for movement to and location in geographical areas such as mountains, e.g. dans les Alpes; French departments of masculine gender, e.g. dans le Pas-de-Calais; as well as American states and English counties of masculine gender, e.g. dans le Texas, dans le Kent.

It is also used for location in towns and countries modified by adjectives, quantifiers or adjectival phrases, e.g.

More generally, dans is used to indicate location inside somewhere, e.g.

Les clefs sont dans le tiroir.

(The keys are in the drawer.)

Note particularly the expression Je suis dans le train, where in English we would say ‘I am on (= inside) the train’. A literal rendering into French with Je suis sur le train would conjure up an image of someone literally on the roof of the train, as you see in the cartoon at the beginning of the chapter.

7 When ‘in’ is the equivalent of ‘at’, à tends to be used in French, rather than dans, e.g.

Il est à l’école. Sa petite sœur est à la maison.

(He is at school. His little sister is at home.)

Contrast the examples above with the following:

J’ai laissé mon passeport quelque part dans la maison.

(I’ve left my passport somewhere in the house.)

L’assassin est déjà dans l’école.

(The murderer is already inside the school.)

8 Use of de

De, meaning ‘from’, is used to indicate geographical origin or movement away from a place, e.g.

Elle est de Paris.

(She is from Paris.)

If the name of the town, e.g. Le Havre, includes the definite article le, de combines with it to give du, e.g.

Il est du Havre.

(He is from Le Havre.)

Before the masculine name of a country or region, use de + definite article, e.g.

Il est du Japon; elle est des États-Unis.

(He is from Japan; she is from the United States.)

Before the feminine name of a country, region or island, use de alone, e.g.

Cet écrivain du Moyen Âge s’appelait Marie; elle était de France.

(This medieval writer was called Marie; she was from France.)

Before the masculine singular name of a country or region beginning with a vowel, use d’ alone, e.g.

Ils attendent un vol en provenance d’Israël

(They are waiting for a flight from Israel)

There is one exception to note:

Il vient de l’Inde.

(He comes from India.)

For more information about the usage of prepositions with names of countries and islands, see Appendix 1 at the end of the book. See also Chapter 1 for the gender of place names.

Exercises

EXERCISE 1. Complete the following sentences with the appropriate prepositions or preposition + article and make any necessary changes.

1 Elle a passé trois mois ____ Afrique cet été et l’année prochaine elle voudrait aller ____ Amérique latine.

2 ____ France de nos jours il n’est pas facile de trouver un stage.

3 Il vient ____ Le Havre. Elle est ____ Mexico.

4 Les écoliers ont fait leurs devoirs ____ le bus.

5 C’est un archéologue qui fait des fouilles ____ Chypre. L’année dernière il a travaillé ____ Corse.

6 Sa petite-fille est ____ l’université____ États-Unis.

7 Nos cousins sont en vacances ____ le Cantal tandis que leurs parents sont ____ les Pyrénées.

8 Son mari vient ____ Mexique, mais elle est ____ (Guyane).

9 Les policiers avaient essayé de boucler la rue, mais les manifestants étaient déjà ____ l’école.

10 Elle est allée ____ Pérou pour voir la vallée sacrée. Sa cousine est allée ____ Israël pour étudier l’archéologie.