Prepositions of place in French

• En and à mean both ‘to’ and ‘in’ when used with countries, continents, mountain ranges, cities or towns.

• Use en to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ with feminine countries and continents.

• Use à with the definite article to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ with masculine and plural countries, and mountain ranges.

• Use à without an article to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ with cities and towns.

En and à are prepositions that mean both ‘to’ and ‘in’ when used with countries, continents, mountain ranges, cities and towns.

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

Useful feminine countries and continents to learn are:

For example:

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

• Je suis en France. – I’m in France.

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

• Je suis en Europe. – I’m in Europe.

Did you know?

An exception to the above rule is the island of La Réunion.

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

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

Use à with the definite articles le or les in order to mean ‘to’ and ‘in’ masculine countries. These include Canada, for example, and plural countries, such as the USA.

Useful masculine countries to learn are:

Remember

When using à with le, it must be contracted to au, and à with les becomes 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.

Did you know?

Madagascar is an exception to these rules as it is treated as a proper noun without an article. The same exception also applies for Cuba.

The definite article that would usually merge with à to form au is not needed:

Je vais à Madagascar. – I'm going to Madagascar.

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

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

• Je suis à Dakar. – I’m in Dakar.

Practise what you've learned about prepositions of place in French with this quiz.

Now you’ve learned about prepositions of place, why not explore French regular verbs?