Prepositions with Places, Country, Continent and State
PLACES
Prepositions are an important part of learning any language. They link two elements of a sentence together. In English, we use prepositions such as on, with, and to very frequently. These little words serve a big purpose in making sentences more meaningful and thoughts more complete.
When prepositions à or de are followed by definite articles le or les in French, these prepositions “contract” with them to form one word. See table below.
To tell people in which continent, country, state, or city you live, you need to know the names in French and which preposition you put before them. In English, the only thing you have to know is ‘in’:
▫︎ I live in America. I live in the United States. I live in California. I live in San Diego.
But in French, that préposition will vary.
☞ J’habite en Amérique. J’habite aux États-Unis. J’habite en Californie. J’habite à San Diego.
I live in America. I live in the United States. I live in California. I live in San Diego.
How do you choose between en, au, aux and à?
- The preposition à
Every time you mention a city, the preposition à precedes the city name.
☞ J’habite à Rome.
- The preposition en
Countries that end in ‘e’ and the one that starts with a vowel will use the préposition en.
☞ Je vais en France et en Australie.
- The preposition aux
Countries that end in ‘s’.
☞ J’habite aux États-Unis.
- The preposition au
All other countries that do not end in ‘e’ or ‘s’ use au.
☞ Je voyage au Brésil, au Danemark et au Japon.
Exception
Mexico is Mexique in French. You need to say au Mexique. The same with Cambodge, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.