French Grammar: Prepositions before Locations

To describe where we are or where we are going:

en/au(x) + name of the country

RULE:

EN + feminine noun
+ masculine noun starting with a vowel
e.g. Elle est/va en Espagne (feminine noun).
e.g. Il est/va en Iran (masculine noun beginning with a vowel).
AU + masculine noun beginning with a consonant
e.g. On va/est au Canada (masculine noun starting with a consonant).
AUX + plural noun
e.g. Il est/va aux Etats-Unis (plural noun).

en/dans + name of the region

RULE:

EN + feminine noun
+ masculine noun starting with a vowel
Il vit en Californie (feminine noun).
Elle vit en Anjou (masculine noun beginning with a vowel).
DANS + article (le/la) + masculine noun beginning with a consonant
+ article (les) + plural noun
Il vit dans le Tyrol (masculine noun beginning with consonant).
Il vit dans les Flandres (plural noun).

À + name of a city
Il habite à Melbourne.
Il vit au Havre (masculine noun with article in the name - Le Havre).

To describe where we are coming from:

de/du/des

RULE:

DE + name of a feminine country or region

+ name of a masculine country or region beginning with a vowel
+ name of a city

e.g. Elle vient de Chine/d’Australie (feminine country noun)/de Bretagne (feminine region noun).
e.g. Il vient d’Iran (masculine country noun beginning with a vowel)/d’Anjou (masculine region noun
beginning with a vowel).
e.g. On vient de Rome (city noun).

DU + name of masculine country or region beginning with a consonant

e.g. On arrive du Japon (masculine country noun beginning with a consonant)/du Périgord (masculine region
noun beginning with a consonant).
DES + name of plural country or region
e.g. Il arrives des Pays-Bas (plural country noun)/des Flandres(plural region noun).

COMPARE THE PAIR:

Elle va en Corée.
(Uses ‘en’ because she is going to a place - the rule follows that ‘en’ must be used {when you are talking
about a place where a person is or is going} with a feminine noun)
Elle revient de Corée.
(Uses ‘de’ because when you are describing the place where a person is coming from, the rule says that ‘de’
must be used with a feminine country noun)

(source: based on Nouvelle Grammaire du Français)

Practice Exercise:

1. Il va ___ Russie.

2. Il vit ___ Haute-Loire.

3. Elle vit ___ Bas-Rhin.

4. On vit ___ Hautes-Alpes.

5. On va ___ Japon.

6. Il va ___ Pays-Bas.

7. Alexandre habite ___ New York.

8. Jeanne vient ___ Israël.

9. Léo vient ___ Rome.

10. Il arrive ___ Etats-Unis.

11. Anne arrive ___ Royaume-Uni.

Answer Key:

1. en

2. en

3. dans le

4. dans les
5. au

6. aux

7. à

8. d’

9. de

10. des

11. du