French Prepositions of places- Cities, Countries, British Counties, etc....

Ah ! le problème des prépositions en français !!!!

Tout d’abord, (First of all) you have to remember that in English, you choose a preposition according to the verb you’re using.  Au fait (by the way), a preposition is  the annoying linking word between words–like: in, to, from,...-  which seems to be always be a random one in a foreign language.

Par exemple:

I am in Paris,

I go to Paris,

I am staying in Rome,

I live in Dublin

How to I get to Glasgow from here?

So, in English, it can be in or to in front of cities ( to if you indicate movement).

Well in French, it’s not the verb which determines the preposition, it’s the place.

Par exemple:

Je vais à Paris,

Je suis à Paris,

J’habite à Dublin

Comment je fais pour aller à Glasgow?

It’s « à » because it’s a city (you’ll be happy to know it works from capital cities to hamlet or city district).

If you are talking about British counties, always use “dans le”.

Par exemple:

Je suis dans le Kent,

Je vais dans le Cumbria pour Noël ( si c’est possible avec la neige !)

Now, if you are talking about a country, c’est une autre paire de manche ( another kettle of fish)  because in French, countries can be either masculine or feminine and some plural.  Isn’t French fun?

Let’s see if we can shed some light on the issue!

Some countries are feminine: La France, La Grande-Bretagne, La Belgique, La Chine,…

Other are masculine : Le Portugal, Le Kenya, le Danemark, Le Canada, le Pays de Galles….

Some starting with a vowel are either masculine or feminine but it doesn’t make a difference : L’Italie, L’Espagne, L’Afghanistan, L’Irak, l’Iran, l’Angleterre, L’Ecosse,….

Some countries are plural: Les Etats-Unis, Les Philippines, Les Pays-Bas, Les Emirats-Arabes, ….

Do not despair, there is a trick : As you may have noticed above, almost all countries that end in -e are considered to be feminine for grammatical purposes.  The exceptions are:

le Belize

le Cambodge
le Mexique
le Mozambique
le Zaïre
le Zimbabwe

As all continents in French end in –e, they are considered to be feminine for grammatical purposes.  (L’Asie, l’Amérique du Nord, l’Amérique du Sud, l’Afrique, l’Antarctique, l’Australie, l’Europe)
When using verbs like aller, être, habiter, rester, you need to be careful with the gender of the country :
With feminine countries:                   EN                 

J’habite/ Je suis/ Je vais/ Je reste/ en France, enItalie, en Norvège…..

With masculine countries :               AU                 

J’habite/ Je suis/ Je vais/ Je reste au Portugal, qu Brésil, qu Zaïre…

With plural countries :                       AUX               

J’habite/ Je suis/ Je vais/ Je reste aux Etats-Unis, aux Philippines…

When using the verb venir, you need to be careful with the preposition:
With feminine countries:                   DE

Je viens de France, d’Italie, de Norvège…..

With masculine countries :               DU

Je viens du Portugal, du Brésil, du Zaïre…

With plural countries :                       DES

Je viens des Etats-Unis, des Philippines…

Now, practice makes perfect :
Répondez dans un commentaire/comment :

D’où venez-vous/ Vous venez d’où/ …

Vous habitez où ?

Je commence :

Je viens de France, de Poitiers

J’habite en Grande-Bretagne, à Londres, à Colliers Wood, près de Wimbledon.

Petits tests do this one if you want to be challenged geographically

 Les capitales du monde

Put the right preposition in front of the capital city and then choose from the list of countries the matching one for the city. Bonne chance!
PS: Keys are in the next exercise.

Je vais_____ Lima______+ pays???___________ Je vais_____ Lisbonne Je vais_____ Ljubljana, Je vais_____ Lomé Je vais_____ Londres , Je vais_____ Luanda, Je vais_____ Madrid, Je vais_____ Manille  Je vais_____ Mexico , Je vais_____ Monrovia , Je vais_____ Montevideo, Je vais_____ Moscou Je vais_____ Nairobi , Je vais_____ N’Djaména , Je vais_____ New Delhi, Je vais_____ Niamey Je vais_____ Nouakchott, Je vais_____ Oslo, Je vais_____ Ottawa Je vais_____ Ouagadougou Je vais_____ Pékin, Je vais_____ Prague, Je vais_____ Pyongyang, Je vais_____ Rabat , Je vais_____ Reykjavik, Je vais_____ Riga, Je vais_____ Riyad, Je vais_____ Rome, Je vais_____ San José , Je vais_____ Sanaa , Je vais_____ Santiago , Je vais_____ Sarajevo, Je vais_____ Séoul, Je vais_____ Sofia, Je vais_____ Stockholm, Je vais_____ Tachkent, Je vais_____ Tallinn, Je vais_____ Téhéran, Je vais_____ Tokyo , Je vais_____ Tripoli, Je vais_____ Tunis, Je vais_____ Varsovie, Je vais_____ Vienne, Je vais_____ Washington, Je vais_____ Wellington, Je vais_____ Yaoundé , Je vais_____ Zagreb,

Angola Arabie saoudite Autriche Bosnie -Herzégovine Bulgarie Burkina Faso Cameroun Canada Chili Chine Corée du Nord Corée du Sud Costa Rica Croatie Espagne Estonie États_Unis Inde Iran Islande Italie Japon Kenya Lettonie Liberia Libye Maroc Mauritanie Mexique Niger Norvège Nouvelle_Zélande Ouzbékistan Pérou Philippines Pologne Portugal République tchèque Royaume-Uni Russie Slovénie Suède Tchad Togo Tunisie Uruguay Yémen

Or this one if you are geographically challenged

Je vais_____ Lima , _______ Pérou

Je vais_____ Lisbonne , _______ Portugal

Je vais_____ Ljubljana, _______Slovénie

Je vais_____ Lomé , _______ Togo

Je vais_____ Londres , _______ Royaume-Uni

Je vais_____ Luanda, _______Angola

Je vais_____ Madrid, _______Espagne

Je vais_____ Manille ,________ Philippines

Je vais_____ Mexico , _______ Mexique

Je vais_____ Monrovia , _______ Liberia

Je vais_____ Montevideo, _______Uruguay

Je vais_____ Moscou, _______Russie

Je vais_____ Nairobi , _______ Kenya

Je vais_____ N’Djaména , _______ Tchad

Je vais_____ New Delhi, _______Inde

Je vais_____ Niamey , _______ Niger

Je vais_____ Nouakchott, _______Mauritanie

Je vais_____ Oslo, _______Norvège

Je vais_____ Ottawa , _______ Canada

Je vais_____ Ouagadougou , _______ Burkina Faso

Je vais_____ Pékin, _______Chine

Je vais_____ Prague, _______République tchèque

Je vais_____ Pyongyang, _______Corée du Nord

Je vais_____ Rabat , _______ Maroc

Je vais_____ Reykjavik, _______Islande

Je vais_____ Riga, _______Lettonie

Je vais_____ Riyad, _______Arabie saoudite

Je vais_____ Rome, _______Italie

Je vais_____ San José , _______ Costa Rica

Je vais_____ Sanaa , _______ Yémen

Je vais_____ Santiago , _______ Chili

Je vais_____ Sarajevo, _______BosnieJe vais_____Herzégovine

Je vais_____ Séoul, _______Corée du Sud

Je vais_____ Sofia, _______Bulgarie

Je vais_____ Stockholm, _______Suède

Je vais_____ Tachkent, _______Ouzbékistan

Je vais_____ Tallinn, _______Estonie

Je vais_____ Téhéran, _______Iran

Je vais_____ Tokyo , _______ Japon

Je vais_____ Tripoli, _______Libye

Je vais_____ Tunis, _______Tunisie

Je vais_____ Varsovie, _______Pologne

Je vais_____ Vienne, _______Autriche

Je vais_____ Washington,________États_Unis

Je vais_____ Wellington, _______Nouvelle_Zélande

Je vais_____ Yaoundé , _______ Cameroun

Je vais_____ Zagreb, _______Croatie

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