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1.47: Prépositions avec places géographiques

  • Page ID
    202732
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    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.

    file-62d4ab0964f49.png

    Exception

    Mexico is Mexique in French. You need to sayau Mexique. The same with Cambodge, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.


    This page titled 1.47: Prépositions avec places géographiques is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Philippe Patto.

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