Les prpositions de lieu

(continents, pays, rgions, villes, specific places)

To choose a preposition, consider :
the type of place (is it a continent ? a country ? a region ? a city/town ?)
the gender and "number" (if any) of the name of the place (is the French
name for the place masculine or feminine, singular or plural ?)

CONTINENTS COUNTRIES - STATES

How do I know if a continent's or a country's name is masculine or feminine ?
Look the name in the singular (eg. "France", "Canada" or "Japon"). If it ends with
the letter e, it is feminine gender. If not, it is masculine gender.
"la France" is feminine, "le Canada" and "le Japon" are masculine.
"les tats-Unis" is masculine and plural no e before the ending s
les Philippines is feminine and plural.
Notable exceptions : "le Mexique" and "le Cambodge
they end with an e but are masculine gender.
USE THE PREPOSITION EN WITH :
all feminine gender names of continents and countries
all masculine gender names beginning with a vowel
Paul va en France, en Allemagne, en Europe, en Asie...
La Bolivie est en Amrique du sud.
Susie ira en Iran, en Iraq, en Afghanistan ,en Virginie, en Californie
USE THE PREPOSITION AU WITH
masculine gender names beginning with a consonant
Notre oncle habite au Nigria, au Japon, au Canada, au Texas.
USE THE PREPOSITION AUX WITH NAMES IN PLURAL
Marc travaille aux Philippines, mais il va souvent aux tats-Unis.
Elle a fait un beau voyage aux Canaries.

REGIONS and DEPARTEMENTS

USE THE PREPOSITION EN WITH :
feminine gender and singular names of states, regions and departments
En Bourgogne, en Floride, ...
USE THE PREPOSITION DANS

LE WITH :

USE THE PREPOSITION DANS

LES

Masculine gender and singular names of regions

Nous avons de la famille dans le Val de Loire,
with:

names of regions in the plural

dans les Grands Lacs.

CITIES, TOWNS and SPECIFIC PLACES

USE THE PREPOSITION ,

l, la, au, aux

WITH:

cities
town
specific places (to be combined with the article, where necessary)
Singapour, Hong Kong, Bali
Paris, Boston , Rome, Needham, Brookline,
la bibliothque, lhopital, la piscine
au cinma, au supermarch, au parc
la gare, l'aroport, l'cole

PLACES REFERRED TO THE NAME OF A PERSON

LIVING OR WORKING THERE
USE THE PREPOSITION CHEZ WITH:
name of the person, or pronoun representing that person
Ce soir, nous dnons chez Paul et Marie Dupond.
Est-ce que tu es dj all chez ton voisin ?
Jai lu ces magazines chez le coiffeur, chez le docteur, chez le dentiste
Chez moi, on regarde rarement la tl.