Prepositions
À and de after verbs and adjectives, au, aux, du and des, en and à with places, and pour and sans with an infinitive.
Learn
Prepositions, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Join à and de with le and les
À with le becomes au, and à with les becomes aux: je vais au cinéma, il parle aux élèves. De with le becomes du, and de with les becomes des: près du parc, la fin des vacances. À la, à l', de la and de l' stay as they are.
Say in or to a country with en, au or aux
Most countries ending in -e are feminine and take en: en France, en Espagne. Masculine countries take au (au Canada, au Japon), and plural ones take aux: aux États-Unis.
Say in or to a town with à
Towns and cities take à: j'habite à Leeds, nous allons à Paris. From a town, or from a feminine country, is de: elle vient de Lyon, il rentre d'Italie.
Show who owns something with de
French has no 's, so it uses de: le vélo de mon frère is my brother's bike, and la chambre de Sophie is Sophie's room. With a masculine noun it joins up: la voiture du prof.
Learn which verbs take à or de before an infinitive
Some verbs need à before a second verb: commencer à, apprendre à, aider à. Others need de: décider de, essayer de, oublier de, arrêter de. Learn each verb with its little word: j'apprends à conduire, j'ai décidé de partir.
Notice when à or de changes the meaning
Parler à is to talk to and parler de is to talk about: je parle à mon prof, je parle de mes vacances. Adjectives can take them too: je suis content de te voir, je suis prêt à partir.
Use pour and sans with an infinitive
Pour with an infinitive means in order to: je travaille pour gagner de l'argent. Sans with an infinitive means without doing something: il est parti sans dire au revoir. English uses -ing after without, but French keeps the infinitive.
Say how you travel
Most transport takes en: en bus, en train, en voiture, en avion. On foot and by bike take à: à pied, à vélo.
Prepositions key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Preposition
- A small word that links a noun or a verb to the rest of the sentence, such as à (to, at), de (of, from), dans (in) or pour (for).
- au and aux
- To the or at the, from à with le or les: au parc, aux magasins.
- du and des after de
- Of the or from the, from de with le or les: à côté du cinéma means next to the cinema.
- en with a country
- In or to, before a feminine country: en Écosse, en Allemagne.
- chez
- At or to someone's home or business: chez moi means at my house, and chez le dentiste means at the dentist's.
- pour with an infinitive
- In order to: pour rester en forme means to keep fit.
- sans with an infinitive
- Without doing something: sans attendre means without waiting.
- de for possession
- Of, used where English uses 's: le chien de ma voisine means my neighbour's dog.
Common mistakes in Prepositions
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Writing à le or de les, as in je vais à le parc.
These always join up: au parc, aux États-Unis, du collège, des magasins.
Using à with every country, as in à France.
Feminine countries take en, masculine ones au and plural ones aux: en France, au Portugal, aux Pays-Bas. Keep à for towns: à Rome.
Writing possession the English way, as in mon frère vélo for my brother's bike.
Put the thing owned first, then de and the owner: le vélo de mon frère.
Leaving out à or de before an infinitive, as in j'ai décidé partir.
Many verbs need a little word before the next verb: j'ai décidé de partir, j'apprends à nager. Learn each verb with it.
Using an -ant form after sans, as in sans parlant.
After sans and pour, use the infinitive: sans parler, pour réussir.
Practice
Try a Prepositions question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which word completes the sentence? J'ai décidé ___ partir plus tôt.
- à
- de
- pour
- que
Show the answer and the working
Answer: de
Décider takes de before an infinitive: j'ai décidé de partir, I decided to leave.
- Décider de + infinitive.
- So j'ai décidé de partir.
- I decided to leave.