Describing countries and their features in French

• Different prepositions are used to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ when used with countries, continents, cities/towns and other geographical features.

• Use impersonal verbs to describe the weather.

• This guide contains reading and listening practice.

French-speaking countries include:

For example:

La Belgique et la France sont des pays européens. - Belgium and France are European countries.

Ma famille vient du Sénégal. - My family comes from Senegal.

Other countries include:

Did you know?

There are two official languages in Canada - French and English. In the province of Quebec, however, French is the only official language.

Au Québec, on parle français. In Quebec, they speak French.

Common geographical features include:

For example:

Les Alpes et les Pyrénées sont des montagnes en France. - The Alps and the Pyrenees are mountains in France.

La Manche est la mer entre la France et l’Angleterre. - The English Channel is the sea between France and England.

Different prepositions are used to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ when used with countries, continents, cities or towns and other geographical features.

En with feminine countries and continents

Use en (without an article) to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ feminine countries, such as France, and continents such as Europe.

For example:

• Je vais en France. – I’m going to France.

• Je suis en France. – I’m in France.

An exception to this rule is the island of La Réunion. For example:

• Je vais à La Réunion. – I’m going to Reunion Island.

• Je suis à La Réunion. – I’m in Reunion Island.

Note that in French all continents are feminine. For example:

• Je vais en Europe. – I’m going to Europe.

• Je suis en Europe. – I’m in Europe.

• Je voudrais travailler en Asie et en Afrique. – I would like to work in Asia and Africa.

Remember

The French name for London is Londres. Paris is the same in both languages but is pronounced Paris in French. The final s is silent.

À with masculine and plural countries

Use à with the definite article (le or les) to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ with masculine countries, such as Canada, and plural countries, such as the USA.

Remember that à followed by le is contracted to au and à followed by les is contracted to aux.

For example:

• Je vais au Canada. – I’m going to Canada.

• Je suis au Canada. – I’m in Canada.

• Je vais aux États Unis. – I’m going to the USA.

• Je suis aux États Unis. – I’m in the USA

À with cities and towns

Use à without an article to mean ‘to’ or ‘in’ a city or town.

For example:

• Je vais à Dakar. – I’m going to Dakar.

• Je suis à Dakar. – I’m in Dakar.

À with mountains and countryside

Use à with la to mean ‘to’ or ‘in’ the mountains or the countryside.

For example:

• Je vais à la campagne. – I’m going to the countryside.

• Je suis à la montagne. – I’m in the mountains.

However, if you are talking about a specific mountain range, use dans with les.

For example:

• Je vais dans les Alpes. – I’m going to the Alps.

• Je suis dans les Pyrénées. – I’m in the Pyrenees.

Dans with points of the compass

Remember

The points of the compass can combine, like they do in English.

For example:

• J’habite dans le nord-est de l’Angleterre. I live in north-east England.

• Je vais visiter le sud-ouest de la France. I am going to visit south-west France.

Other prepositions with geographical features

Other prepositions used with geographical features include sur (on) and au bord de (by).

For example:

• Je vais rester sur une île. – I’m going to stay on an island.

• Je suis au bord de la mer. – I am by the sea / at the seaside.

Choose the correct word(s) to complete the following sentences.

Find out more about using prepositions when talking about countries and continents in the Prepositions of place in French guide.

Read the holiday reviews below and note the advantages and disadvantages of each destination.

To describe what the weather is like now or what it is normally like, use these weather expressions in the present tense:

For example:

En Angleterre, il pleut assez souvent. - In England, it rains quite often.

Aujourd’hui, il fait beau mais il fait froid. - Today, the weather is fine but it’s cold.

Remember

Le temps can mean weather as well as time.

Quel temps fait-il? What’s the weather like?

The French for 'weather forecast' is la météo.

Je vais regarder la météo. I’m going to watch the weather forecast.

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Use the following impersonal verbs with weather phrases:

Use the third person (il form) when using these weather phrases in the different tenses:

For example:

Il fait beau. - It’s nice weather.

Il faisait beau. - It was nice weather.

Il va faire beau demain. - It is going to be nice weather tomorrow.

Il y a du vent. - It’s windy.

Il y avait du vent. - It was windy.

Il y aura du vent demain. - It will be windy tomorrow.

Il pleut. - It’s raining.

Il pleuvait. - It was raining.

Il va pleuvoir demain. - It’s going to rain tomorrow.

Press Start to choose the correct translation for the weather phrases in this activity.

Find out more about using impersonal verbs when talking about the weather in the Impersonal verbs and expressions in French guide.

Press Start to listen to the weather forecast and choose the correct weather for each region.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing countries and their features.

Useful Higher Tier vocabulary includes:

All Higher Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing countries and their features.

Now you have learned about describing countries and their features why not look at the Describing accommodation guide.