French Prepositions
Most common French prepositions and their usage
The biggest trap with French prepositions: don't map them one-to-one from your own language. A single idea like "in / to / at / for" may correspond to à, de, en, or dans depending on the case; and many verbs lock in a fixed preposition (commencer à, finir de) — get it wrong and you lose points outright.
💡 One-line intuition: a preposition marks a relationship, not a "meaning." à pulls toward a point (direction / goal / recipient), de moves outward from a point (origin / possession), en is a broad "being in a state or a frame."
à — direction, location, time
| Use | Example | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| going somewhere | Je vais à Paris. | I'm going to Paris. |
| being somewhere | Il est à la maison. | He's at home. |
| at a time | À quelle heure ? | At what time? |
| to someone | Je parle à Marie. | I'm talking to Marie. |
de — origin, possession, material
| Use | Example | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| coming from a place | Je viens de Lyon. | I come from Lyon. |
| 's (possession) | Le livre de Pierre. | Pierre's book. |
| material | Une robe de soie. | A silk dress. |
en vs dans — both mean "in / inside"
| Preposition | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| en | country / month / year / means of transport | en France, en mars, en voiture |
| dans | a specific place / after a time span | dans la salle, dans 5 minutes |
Rule of thumb: en leans abstract / broad-scope, dans leans concrete / a bounded space.
Prepositions for countries and cities
"Going to" and "being in" take the same preposition — the choice depends only on the place name itself:
| Type | Preposition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| city | à | à Paris, à Montréal, à Tokyo |
| feminine country (usually ends in -e) | en | en France, en Chine, en Italie |
| masculine country starting with a vowel | en | en Iran, en Irak, en Angola |
| other masculine countries | au | au Canada, au Japon, au Maroc |
| plural country | aux | aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas |
| island | à | à Cuba, à Madagascar |
Spotting gender: countries ending in -e are usually feminine — but le Mexique and le Cambodge are masculine exceptions, hence au Mexique, au Cambodge.
"Coming from" uses a matching set
| Type | Preposition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| city / feminine country | de | je viens de Paris, de France |
| masculine country | du | je viens du Canada, du Japon |
| plural country | des | je viens des États-Unis |
⚠️ Three frequent mistakes: en Canada → au Canada; au Iran → en Iran (vowel-initial); au États-Unis → aux États-Unis. 📌 For the full treatment (à Québec the city vs au Québec the province, memory hook, trap table), see the reference entry "Au, en, à or aux?".
pour vs par
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| pour | for / purpose | C'est pour toi. (It's for you.) |
| par | through / by (passive voice) | Par la fenêtre. (Through the window.) |
⚠️ The nastiest one: depuis / pendant / pour (all take time — never mix them up)
All three are followed by a stretch of time, and exams (especially listening and reading) love to lay traps here:
| Preposition | Meaning | Typical setting | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| depuis | from a past point still going on now | often with the present / imperfect | J'habite ici depuis 2020. (still living there) |
| pendant | a span that has already ended | often with the compound past | J'ai travaillé pendant trois heures. |
| pour | a planned, not-yet-happened span | for a future intention | Je pars pour deux semaines. (planning to be away two weeks) |
🔑 In one line: depuis = continuing up to now, pendant = a span already over, pour = a planned span. ⚠️ High-frequency error: "I've been learning French for two years" said as pour deux ans — the correct form is depuis deux ans.
Common set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| à côté de | next to |
| en face de | across from |
| au-dessus de | above |
| au-dessous de | below |
| à cause de | because of |
| grâce à | thanks to |
| au lieu de | instead of |