Un 5.5

Prepositions of Place

There are many prepositions of place in French. They are used to indicate the location of one item in relation to another item.

Explication

Exercices

Prepositions of Place – Les prépositions de lieu

Prepositions of place are used to show the positional relationship between two things.

e.g.

Le livre est dans mon bureau, sur ma chaise.	The book is in my office, on my chair.
La voiture est devant le café.	The car is in front of the cafe.

Prepositions of Place – Single Word
à	at, in
chez	at the place of
dans	in
de	from
derrière	behind
devant	in front of
en	in
entre	between
sous	under
sur	on
vers	towards

The prepositions ‘à’, ‘dans’ and ‘en’ are all often translated by English’s ‘in’, although they are not interchangeable (otherwise, they’d be the same word!). In the meaning of ‘in’, the word ‘à’ is used for most cities and masculine countries or provinces. The word ‘dans’ focuses on the idea of ‘inside a defined 3D space’, whereas ‘en’ often refers to more abstract concepts. The preposition ‘en’ is also used with feminine countries and is usually followed by just the noun, without any article.

e.g.

Tu habites au Canada ? Au Québec ? À Québec ou à Montréal ?	You live in Canada? In Quebec? In Quebec City or in Montreal?
Je suis à l’école.	I’m at the school.
Je suis dans l’école.	I’m in the school.
J’ai une idée en tête. Pourquoi pas aller au restaurant ?	I’ve got an idea. Why not go to the restaurant?
Pardon ? En français, s’il vous plaît.	Pardon? In French, please.

The preposition ‘chez’ does not have a direct equivalent in English. It is used to refer to the concept of ‘at the place of’. This can refer to one’s home, one’s workplace, or in a more figurative sense of ‘in that person’. ‘Chez’ is only used with living things.

e.g.

La fête est chez mon cousin.	The party’s at my cousin’s house.
Je vais chez le médecin.	I’m going to the doctor(‘s office).
Chez lui, il y a beaucoup de passion.	He has a lot of passion inside.

Some of these prepositions can be used without a noun, often because the other item is contextually understood. This is not possible with all prepositions, however.

e.g.

Le magasin est derrière.

The store’s just behind (it).

Contractions with the prepositions ‘à’ and ‘de’ – Les contractions avec les prépositions ‘à’ et ‘de’

The prepositions ‘à’ and ‘de’ often undergo contraction when interacting with articles. ‘À’ contracts when followed by the singular definite masculine article ‘le’ or the plural definite article ‘les’, while ‘de’ contracts when followed by the singular definite masculine article ‘le’, by the plural definite article ‘les’, as well as by all forms of indefinite articles.

e.g.

C’est la voiture d’un ami. (de + un)	It’s a friend’s car.
Les adultes vont au travail. (à + le)	The adults are going to work.
J’ai besoin d’aller aux toilettes. (à + les)	I need a washroom.

Contractions – Articles / Les articles
Indefinite	de	Singular	Masculine	d’un
			Feminine	d’une
		Plural	Masculine	de
			Feminine	de
Definite	de	Singular	Masculine	du
			Feminine	de la
			*before vowel/unaspirated ‘h’	de l’
		Plural	Masculine	des
			Feminine	des
	à	Singular	Masculine	au
			Feminine	à la
			*before vowel/unaspirated ‘h’	à l’
		Plural	Masculine	aux
			Feminine	aux

Prepositions of Place with ‘de’ – Les prépositions de lieu avec ‘de’

French has many prepositions that are made up of several words. Many of these types of prepositions end in the word ‘de’ when taking a noun object. Since these prepositions can end in ‘de’, rules of contraction apply.

e.g.

Je suis à l’extérieur. Oui, à l’extérieur du cinéma.	I’m outside. Yes, outside the movie theatre.
Le musée est en face d’un grand parc.	The museum is across from a big park.

Prepositions of Place – Multi-word
à côté (de)	beside
à droite (de)	to the right (of)
à l’extérieur (de)	outside (of)
à gauche (de)	to the left (of)
à l’intérieur (de)	inside
autour (de)	around
en face (de)	across (from); facing; opposite
loin (de)	far (from)
près (de)	near (to)