Our website uses cookies to provide you the best experience. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our use of cookies. For more information, read our Cookie Policy.
Customize Consent Preferences
We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.
The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ...
Always Active
Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
Cookie
AWSALBCORS
Duration
7 days
Description
Amazon Web Services set this cookie for load balancing.
Cookie
opt_out
Duration
1 year
Description
This cookie is used for preventing the installation of third party advertiser or other cookies on the browser.
Cookie
wt_consent
Duration
1 year
Description
Used for remembering usersโ consent preferences to be respected on subsequent site visits. It does not collect or store personal information about visitors to the site.
Cookie
wpEmojiSettingsSupports
Duration
session
Description
WordPress sets this cookie when a user interacts with emojis on a WordPress site. It helps determine if the user's browser can display emojis properly.
Cookie
__cf_bm
Duration
1 hour
Description
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
Cookie
_cfuvid
Duration
session
Description
Calendly sets this cookie to track users across sessions to optimize user experience by maintaining session consistency and providing personalized services
Cookie
__cfruid
Duration
session
Description
Cloudflare sets this cookie to identify trusted web traffic.
Cookie
m
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Stripe sets this cookie for fraud prevention purposes. It identifies the device used to access the website, allowing the website to be formatted accordingly.
Cookie
__stripe_mid
Duration
1 year
Description
Stripe sets this cookie to process payments.
Cookie
__stripe_sid
Duration
1 hour
Description
Stripe sets this cookie to process payments.
Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.
Cookie
player
Duration
1 year
Description
Vimeo uses this cookie to save the user's preferences when playing embedded videos from Vimeo.
Cookie
ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY
Duration
never
Description
The cookie ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY is used by YouTube to store the last search result entry that was clicked by the user. This information is used to improve the user experience by providing more relevant search results in the future.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
_ga_*
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
Cookie
_ga
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
Cookie
_gcl_au
Duration
3 months
Description
Google Tag Manager sets the cookie to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
Cookie
MR
Duration
7 days
Description
This cookie, set by Bing, is used to collect user information for analytics purposes.
Cookie
_fbp
Duration
3 months
Description
Facebook sets this cookie to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting the website.
Cookie
cppro-ft
Duration
1 year
Description
This cookie is provided by Convert Pro and used to track how a user has behaved on your website or a call-to-action.
Cookie
cppro-ft-style
Duration
session
Description
This cookie is provided by Convert Pro and used to track how a user has behaved on your website or a call-to-action.
Cookie
cppro-ft-style-temp
Duration
1 day
Description
This cookie is provided by Convert Pro and used to track how a user has behaved on your website or a call-to-action.
Cookie
_hjSessionUser_*
Duration
1 year
Description
Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.
Cookie
_hjSession_*
Duration
1 hour
Description
Hotjar sets this cookie to ensure data from subsequent visits to the same site is attributed to the same user ID, which persists in the Hotjar User ID, which is unique to that site.
Cookie
ajs_group_id
Duration
never
Description
This cookie is set by Segment to track visitor usage and events within the website.
Cookie
ajs_user_id
Duration
never
Description
This cookie is set by Segment to help track visitor usage, events, target marketing, and also measure application performance and stability.
Cookie
ajs_anonymous_id
Duration
never
Description
This cookie is set by Segment to count the number of people who visit a certain site by tracking if they have visited before.
Cookie
cf:aff_sub2
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie as part of an affiliate program to track referrals.
Cookie
cf:aff_sub3
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie as part of an affiliate program to track referrals.
Cookie
cf:aff_sub
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie as part of an affiliate program to track referrals.
Cookie
cf:affiliate_id
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie as part of an affiliate program to track referrals.
Cookie
cf:cf_affiliate_id
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie as part of an affiliate program to track referrals.
Cookie
cf:content
Duration
1 year
Description
Internal tracking cookie, set by ClickFunnels, to track a user's movement through the site.
Cookie
cf:medium
Duration
1 year
Description
Internal tracking cookie, set by ClickFunnels, to track a user's movement through the site.
Cookie
cf:name
Duration
1 year
Description
Internal tracking cookie, set by ClickFunnels, to track a user's movement through the site.
Cookie
cf:source
Duration
1 year
Description
Internal tracking cookie, set by ClickFunnels, to track a user's movement through the site.
Cookie
cf:term
Duration
1 year
Description
Internal tracking cookie, set by ClickFunnels, to track a user's movement through the site.
Cookie
cf:visitor_id
Duration
1 year
Description
ClickFunnels sets this cookie to assign a unique visitor ID to each visitor, to ensure the accurate tracking of unique visitors.
Cookie
vuid
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos on the website.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Cookie
AWSALB
Duration
7 days
Description
AWSALB is an application load balancer cookie set by Amazon Web Services to map the session to the target.
Cookie
sync_active
Duration
never
Description
This cookie is set by Vimeo and contains data on the visitor's video-content preferences, so that the website remembers parameters such as preferred volume or video quality.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.
Cookie
uuid2
Duration
3 months
Description
The uuid2 cookie is set by AppNexus and records information that helps differentiate between devices and browsers. This information is used to pick out ads delivered by the platform and assess the ad performance and its attribute payment.
Cookie
MUID
Duration
1 year 24 days
Description
Bing sets this cookie to recognise unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. This cookie is used for advertising, site analytics, and other operations.
Cookie
ayl_visitor
Duration
1 month
Description
This cookie is set by omnitagjs. This cookie stores the data of the visitor, this collected information is used to show relevant advertisements to the user based on user interest.
Cookie
CMID
Duration
1 year
Description
Casale Media sets this cookie to collect information on user behaviour for targeted advertising.
Cookie
CMPS
Duration
3 months
Description
CasaleMedia sets CMPS cookie for anonymous user tracking based on users' website visits to display targeted ads.
Cookie
CMPRO
Duration
3 months
Description
CasaleMedia sets CMPRO cookie for anonymous usage tracking and targeted advertising.
Cookie
mv_tokens
Duration
14 days
Description
Mediavine Exchange sets this cookie to create a unique ID for the visitor, allowing third-party advertisers to target the visitor with relevant advertisements.
Cookie
anj
Duration
3 months
Description
AppNexus sets the anj cookie that contains data stating whether a cookie ID is synced with partners.
Cookie
test_cookie
Duration
15 minutes
Description
doubleclick.net sets this cookie to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Cookie
YSC
Duration
session
Description
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
Cookie
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Duration
6 months
Description
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
Cookie
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA
Duration
6 months
Description
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's cookie consent state for the current domain.
Cookie
yt.innertube::nextId
Duration
never
Description
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Cookie
yt.innertube::requests
Duration
never
Description
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Cookie
IDE
Duration
1 year 24 days 1 minute
Description
Google DoubleClick IDE cookies store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads according to the user profile.
Other cookies are those that are being identified and have not been classified into any category as yet.
Cookie
_seg_uid_15816
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
_seg_uid
Duration
1 year
Description
No description available.
Cookie
_seg_visitor_15816
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
_na
Duration
session
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
XANDR_PANID
Duration
3 months
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
receive-cookie-deprecation
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
visitor-id
Duration
1 year
Description
No description available.
Cookie
data-c-ts
Duration
1 month
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
data-c
Duration
1 month
Description
No description available.
Cookie
criteo
Duration
1 month
Description
No description available.
Cookie
mv_tokens_eu-v1
Duration
14 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
am_tokens
Duration
14 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
am_tokens_eu-v1
Duration
14 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
niva
Duration
14 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
tvid
Duration
1 year
Description
No description available.
Cookie
tv_UICR
Duration
1 month
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
tld
Duration
session
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
SOC
Duration
1 year 1 month 4 days
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
debug
Duration
never
Description
No description available.
Cookie
addevent_track_cookie
Duration
1 year
Description
This cookie is used for adding events to the visitor's calender by the website.
Cookie
cf:NTU5MTA5ODQ
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
wcc_bypass
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
is_eu
Duration
session
Description
No description available.
Cookie
rw22m8zzb9zlaysv
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
6631582_viewed_1
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
seg_domain_test
Duration
session
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
cf:ODQ1NzM2OA
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
mmyflrrr10oxpwx8
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
2441741_viewed_1
Duration
1 year
Description
Description is currently not available.
Cookie
__cflb
Duration
1 hour
Description
This cookie is used by Cloudflare for load balancing.
Cookie
hmt_id
Duration
1 month
Description
Description is currently not available.
Start learning a new language today with a 7-day free trial
When you learn French, French prepositions are likely to cause you trouble. A big part of mastering them simply comes through use, and thereโs nothing that can replace this.
However, there are still some useful tips, tricks and shortcuts that can help you master the basics โ and thatโs what Iโll try to give you in this post.
By the way, if you want to learn French fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is French Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearningยฎ.
With French Uncovered youโll use my unique StoryLearningยฎ method to learn French naturally through storyโฆ not rules. Itโs as fun as it is effective.
What Are French Prepositions And Why Are They So Tricky?
Prepositions are those small words like โtoโ, โinโ or โbyโ that tell you how different parts of a sentence are related to each other.
The problem is, each language has its own set, and although sometimes there are direct equivalents, often preposition usage varies significantly between languages.
For example, while the French proposition aprรจs has the direct English equivalent โafterโ, the preposition ร can be translated by โatโ, โinโ, โtoโ, โofโ, โbyโ or others, depending on its function.
Similarly, the English preposition โinโ can be translated by dans, ร , en, de and more in French.
If you look in almost any grammar book, youโll find a list of French prepositions in alphabetical order, usually followed by a list of English prepositions for cross-reference.
For this reason, Iโm not going to give you another exhaustive list here. Rather, Iโm going to focus on some of the most important areas to introduce you to the French prepositions that will be most useful.
After that, mastering the rest will just be a matter of exposure and practice. So letโs jump in and get started!
French Prepositions Of Place
One of the most important uses of prepositions is expressing place, so here are some of the most common French prepositions of place.
ร Often Means โAtโ Or โInโ
To say where something is, French preposition ร is most frequently used and when used to express location, it can be thought of as meaning โatโ.
However, in English, sometimes we would also use โinโ.
For example, we say:
ร lโรฉcole (At school, at the school)
ร lโhรดpital (At the hospital, in hospital)
Au cafรฉ (At the cafรฉ)
ร la banque (At the banque)
Au village (In the village)
ร chaque endroit (At each place)
Au lit (In bed)
Au ciel (In the sky)
Note that when used with masculine nouns, ร is combined with le to make au.
With cities, we usually use ร , like this:
ร Paris (In Paris)
ร Madrid (In Madrid)
However, to say โin townโ, โin the townโ or โin the cityโ, we use en ville:
Je suis en ville (Iโm in town/in the town/in the city)
With Countries
When using French prepositions for countries, there is a special rule to follow: for masculine countries beginning with consonants, you use au โ while feminine countries and masculine countries beginning with a vowel, you use en:
Au Maroc (In Morocco)
Au Japon (In Japan)
En France (In France)
En Irlande (In Ireland)
Au Laos (In Laos)
En Chine (In China)
En Iran (m) (In Iran)
However, for plural countries, you use aux regardless of gender:
Aux รtats-Unis (mpl) (In the USA)
Aux Philippines (fpl) (In the Philippines)
French Dรฉpartements And Regions, English Counties, States And Provinces In Other Countries
To talk about French departments and regions, English counties and provinces and states in other countries, use dans:
Dans le Cambridgeshire (In Cambridgeshire)
Dans le Gers (In (the) Gers)
Dans le Sichuan (In Sichuan)
Dans le Tamil Nadu (In Tamil Nadu)
However, for French regions, the rules are different โ use en (with no article) for feminine regions and dans (with an article) for masculine regions:
En Normandie (In Normandy)
Dans le Pรฉrigord (In Pรฉrigord)
Islands
For big European islands, we use en whereas, for smaller islands, we use ร โ for example:
En Sicile (In Sicily)
En Corse (In Corsica)
ร Ibiza (In Ibiza)
ร Chypre (In Cyprus)
For islands further away from Europe, the preposition is usually ร , regardless of size:
ร Taiwan (In Taiwan)
ร Borneo (In Borneo)
ร Sumatra (In Sumatra)
However, this is not always the case. For example, we say:
En Martinique (In Martinique)
En Guadeloupe (In Guadeloupe)
You could argue that the last two are dรฉpartements of France, but when it comes to islands, perhaps the best idea is just to remember each one individually.
ร vs Dans
Sometimes, it is possible to use either ร or dans with a subtle difference in meaning. In these cases, choosing ร expresses the general idea of the location whereas dans emphasises the fact of being inside the place.
Look at these examples:
Il est ร lโรฉcole (Heโs at the school)
Il sโest cachรฉ dans lโรฉcole (He hid in the school)
In the first sentence, weโre just stating where the person is โ but in the second, we are placing more emphasis that he is inside the school, hiding inside the building.
It works the same when considering French prepositions for cities:
Je travaille ร Londres (I work in London)
Cโest dรฉsagrรฉable de conduire dans Londres (Itโs unpleasant to drive in London)
The first sentence is merely stating the location, but in the second, the emphasis is on it being unpleasant to drive within the city. However, if you didnโt want to stress it in this way, you could also say cโest dรฉsagrรฉable de conduire ร Londres and it would still be correct.
Over, Under, Above, Below And Between
When saying something is over, under, above or below something, French is quite similar to English. The preposition in French for the word โonโ is usually sur while above is usually au-dessus de.
Like in English, the difference is usually determined by whether there is contact:
Le chat est sur la table (The cat is on the table)
Il y a des nuages au-dessus de la montage (There are clouds above the mountain)
As you can see, since the cat is touching the table, we use sur โ but because the clouds are not touching the mountain, we use au-dessus de.
With the equivalent words sous and au-dessous de, the difference is more subtle. Here, no contact is implied, and au-dessous de is used when you want to emphasise that something is completely under, underneath or below something, like this:
Le chat est sous la table (The cat is under the table)
Son appartement est au-dessous du mien (His flat is below mine)
The word for โbetweenโ is entre. However, in other expressions not related to a physical position, entre can be translated with other prepositions in English.
For example:
Un endroit entre les deux villages (A place between the two villages)
Entre amis (Between/among friends)
Vous รชtes entre amis (Youโre among friends)
Entre ses mains (In his hands (figurative sense))
Chez
A uniquely French preposition of place is chez, and you usually use it to express โat somebodyโs houseโ, like this:
Chez Jean (At Jeanโs house, At Jeanโs place)
Chez lui (At his place)
โOn TVโ, โOn The Radioโ, โOn The Menuโ etc
When talking about TV and radio programmes, the preposition to use is ร and not sur. If you use sur, it means there is something on top of the physical TV or radio.
Here are some examples:
Il est passรฉ ร la tรฉlรฉ (He was on TV)
Je lโai entendu ร la radio (I heard it on the radio)
Il y a du foot ร la tรฉlรฉ (Thereโs football on TV)
But:
Le chat est assis sur la tรฉlรฉ (The cat is sitting on the TV)
Expressions like โon the menuโ also follow this pattern:
Au menu (On the menu)
Other Prepositions Of Place
There are also a number of other French prepositions of location that work more or less the same as in English. Here are just a few examples:
Devant lโรฉglise (In front of the church)
Derriรจre le bar (Behind the bar)
ร cรดtรฉ de chez elle (Next to her place)
French Prepositions Of Movement And Direction
As well as for location, we also use prepositions to indicate movement and direction. Here are some of the most important.
Direction โToโ And โFromโ
In English, the basic preposition we use to indicate direction towards something is โtoโ, and in French, this is often translated by ร . Here are some examples:
Il va ร lโรฉcole (He goes to (the) school)
Je vais ร Delhi (Iโm going to Delhi)
Youโll notice that the preposition for โtoโ in French is the same as the one for โatโ. However, the meaning is always clear from the context.
However, when talking about places that use en for location, for example, feminine countries and some islands, you should use en for direction too.
The rule is to always use the same preposition for direction as for place:
Je vais en France (Iโm going to France)
Il va en Martinique (He's going to Martinique)
Je vais en ville (Iโm going to town)
Je vais ร Ibiza (Iโm going to Ibiza)
Ils vont ร Sumatra (They're going to Sumatra)
For direction โfromโ, the preposition is de:
Il arrive de France (Heโs coming/arriving from France)
Il est parti de la maison ร 7h (He left (from) the house at 7am)
Travelling โByโ
When travelling in a vehicle, the preposition is usually en:
En voiture (By car)
En taxi (By taxi)
En bus (By bus)
However, with some other ways of travelling, you use ร . The difference is that you are not considered to be โinsideโ a vehicle.
For example:
ร pied (On foot)
ร cheval (On horseback/by horse)
ร vรฉlo (By/on a bicycle)
โThroughโ โ Par And ร Travers
To express โthroughโ, the preposition is usually par:
Je le regarde par la fenรชtre Iโm watching him through the window (or โout of the windowโ)
On passe par le tunnel (We pass/go through the tunnel)
Il est sorti par le salon (He left through the living room)
However, โthroughโ is sometimes expressed by ร travers, which often implies some kind of difficulty or that something is blocking the passage:
Il est passรฉ ร travers la foule (He passed/came through the crowd)
Jโentends la musique ร travers le mur (I (can) hear the music through the wall)
French Prepositions Of Time
Another major category are French prepositions of time, so letโs look at some of the most important ones now.
Saying The Time When Something Happens
To say the time when something happens, you usually use ร , which in this case, is the equivalent of โatโ in English.
Je suis rentrรฉ ร 22h (I got back at 10pm)
Il sโest endormi ร minuit (He fell asleep at midnight)
Days, Months, Seasons, Years
To say which month, season or year something happened, the preposition is en:
En avril (In April)
En รฉtรฉ (In summer)
En 1980 (In 1980)
An exception is printemps, โspringโ โ for this, use au:
Je suis nรฉ au printemps (I was born in spring)
To say which day something happened, in English, we use the proposition โinโ, but in French, you don't need a preposition:
Je vais aller lundi (Iโm going to go on Monday)
In French, to say that something happens repeatedly on a particular day โ for example, โon Mondaysโ, there is still no preposition, but you precede the day with le, like this:
Je vais ร la boxe le vendredi (I go to boxing on Fridays)
โForโ And โSinceโ
To say how long an action has lasted, you use depuis โ and depending on the sentence, it can be translated with either โforโ or โsinceโ, like this:
Jโapprends le Hindi depuis deux ans (Iโve been learning Hindi for two years)
Jโhabite en Australie depuis 2015 (Iโve lived in Australia since 2015)
On the other hand, if you are talking about a completed period in the past โ and the focus of the sentence is the duration of the action โ the preposition to use is pendant:
Jโai appris le piano pendant deux ans (I learnt the piano for two years)
Pendant longtemps (For a long time)
However, if the emphasis is on the duration rather than the action, no preposition is required in French whereas English usually uses โforโ:
Il est restรฉ deux semaines (He stayed (for) two weeks)
In this example, the emphasis is on how long he stayed, โtwo weeksโ. Compare this with the example before where the action is on the action, โlearning the pianoโ.
An exception is when talking about an intended duration in the future, in which case, you should use pour โ although sometimes, in informal French, no preposition is used:
Je vais rester pour deux semaines (Iโm going to stay for two weeks)
Je vais rester deux semaines (Iโm going to stay for two weeks)
That said, again, if the focus is on the action, you should use pendant, even in the future:
Je vais รฉtudier intensivement pendant deux semaines (Iโm going to study intensively for two weeks)
โInโ With Time Expressions
To say how long into the future something will happen, in English, we use โinโ โ and it works the same in French with dans, like this:
Il va arriver dans une demi-heure (Heโs going to arrive in half an hour)
Ils vont se marier dans trois mois (Theyโre going to get married in three months)
However, to say how long something will take, use en. Hereโs a pair of examples that illustrate this point clearly:
Il terminera le travail dans deux semaines (He will finish the job in two weeks)
Il terminera le travail en deux semaines (He will finish the job in two weeks)
As you can see, in English, the translation is the same. However, the first sentence tells you that the end date will be two weeks from now while in the second sentence, we are saying how much time it will take him to complete the job.
For the second sentence, an alternative translation could be โit will take him two weeks to finish the jobโ.
โDuringโ
To express โduringโ, the preposition is pendant:
Pendant mon enfance (During my childhood)
Pendant les vacances (During the holidays)
Avant And Aprรจs Meaning โBeforeโ And โAfterโ
When referring to time, these two prepositions work more or less the same as in English:
Avant le match (Before the match)
Avant le travail (Before work)
Aprรจs la naissance de son enfant (After the birth of his child)
Aprรจs 22h (After 10pm)
Vers To Give An Approximate Time
To indicate an approximate time, use vers:
Vers 22h (At about 10pm)
This preposition can also be used to indicate approximate ages:
Il a vers 50 ans (Heโs about 50 (years old))
โUntilโ Is usually Jusquโร
To express โuntilโ use the preposition jusquโร :
Je travaille ici jusquโร la semaine prochaine (Iโm working here until next week)
However, to express the idea of โnot untilโ, use pas avant โ in English, the same idea can also be expressed as โnot beforeโ:
Je ne partirai pas avant la semaine prochaine (I wonโt leave until next week)
Je ne partirai pas avant la semaine prochaine (I wonโt leave before next week)
French Prepositions Of Possession
French also uses prepositions to express possession, so hereโs how it works.
De And ร For Possession
The preposition de is usually translated by โofโ, and in French, it is used to talk about who something belongs to:
La voiture de Marie (Marieโs car)
However, with disjunctive pronouns (words like moi, toi etc.), you use ร instead, like this:
Cโest ร moi (Itโs mine)
Cโest une amie ร lui (Sheโs a friend of his)
ร vs De
Language learners can sometimes get confused regarding the French prepositions ร and de.
However, this can be contrasted with the same construction using ร , which tells you about the kind of container you are talking about. Look at this pair of examples:
Un verre de biรจre (A glass of beer)
Un verre ร biรจre (A beer glass)
In the first one, we are talking about a glass filled with beer. It could be any kind of glass โ for example, a wine glass โ but we are saying that it contains beer.
In the second of our French prepositions sentence examples, we are saying what type of glass it is. It could be filled with beer, but it could just as easily be filled with wine or rice โ or it could be empty. But the type of glass we are talking about is one that is intended for beer.
A Big Topic โ But One You Can Easily Master With Practice
Prepositions are a big topic, and itโs impossible to give you a comprehensive French prepositions list of all the possibilities in a short post like this โ so I havenโt tried.
Rather, Iโve given you a selection of some of the most common French prepositions and the ones that tend to catch learners out at the beginning.
With prepositions in French, thereโs nothing to โunderstandโ, and often thereโs no logic โ so the only thing to do is remember how to use prepositions in French.
However, in this post, you have already seen a good proportion of the most awkward examples โ and the rest will come with time and practice.
FREE StoryLearning Kit!
Join my email newsletter and get FREE access to your StoryLearning Kit โ discover how to learn languages through the power of story!
Olly Richards
Creator of the StoryLearningยฎ Method
Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearningยฎ method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.
Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.
When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preachesโhe speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Latin?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Norwegian?
Download Your Free StoryLearningยฎ Kit!
Discover the world famous story-based method that 1,023,037 people have used to learn a language quicklyโฆ
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Swedish?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Danish?
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Arabic?
FREE StoryLearning Kit!
Join my email newsletter and get FREE access to your StoryLearning Kit โ discover how to learn languages through the power of story!
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download a FREE Story in Japanese!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in Japanese and start learning Japanese quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in Japanese?
Download Your FREENatural Japanese Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural Japanese Grammar Pack and learn to internalise Japanese grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in Japanese?
What is your current level in Portuguese?
What is your current level in German?
Train as an Online Language Teacher and Earn from Home
The next cohort of my Certificate of Online Language Teaching will open soon. Join the waiting list, and weโll notify you as soon as enrolment is open!
Train as an Online Language Teacher and Earn from Home
The next cohort of my Certificate of Online Language Teaching will open soon. Join the waiting list, and weโll notify you as soon as enrolment is open!
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
Loadingโฆ
What is your current level in Portuguese?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Portuguese?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Turkish?
What is your current level in French?
What is your current level in Italian?
What is your current level in German?
What is your current level in Japanese?
Download Your FREEJapanese Vocab Power Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Japanese Vocab Power Pack and learn essential Japanese words and phrases quickly and naturally. (ALL levels!)
What is your current level in Japanese?
Download Your FREE German Vocab Power Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my German Vocab Power Pack and learn essential German words and phrases quickly and naturally. (ALL levels!)
What is your current level in German?
Download Your FREE Italian Vocab Power Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Italian Vocab Power Pack and learn essential Italian words and phrases quickly and naturally. (ALL levels!)
What is your current level in Italian?
Download Your FREEFrench Vocab Power Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my French Vocab Power Pack and learn essential French words and phrases quickly and naturally. (ALL levels!)
What is your current level in French?
What is your current level in Portuguese?
What is your current level in Russian?
What is your current level in Russian?
What is your current level in Italian?
What is your current level in Italian?
What is your current level in French?
What is your current level in French?
What is your current level in Spanish?
What is your current level in Spanish?
What is your current level in Spanish?
What is your current level in Arabic?
What is your current level in Portuguese?
What is your current level in Turkish?
What is your current level in Korean?
What is your current level in Russian?
What is your current level in Japanese?
What is your current level in Chinese?
What is your current level in Spanish?
What is your current level in Italian?
What is your current level in French?
What is your current level in German?
Download Your FREENatural Portuguese Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural Portuguese Grammar Pack and learn to internalise Portuguese grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in Portuguese?
Download Your FREENatural Russian Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural Russian Grammar Pack and learn to internalise Russian grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in Russian?
Download Your FREENatural German Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural German Grammar Pack and learn to internalise German grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in German?
Download Your FREENatural French Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural French Grammar Pack and learn to internalise French grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in French?
Download Your FREENatural Italian Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural Italian Grammar Pack and learn to internalise Italian grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in Italian?
Download a FREE Story in Portuguese!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in Brazilian Portuguese and start learning Portuguese quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in Portuguese?
Download a FREE Story in Russian!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in Russian and start learning Russian quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in Russian?
Download a FREE Story in German!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in German and start learning German quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in German?
Download a FREE Story in Italian!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in Italian and start learning Italian quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in Italian?
Download a FREE Story in French!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in French and start learning French quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in French?
Download a FREE Story in Spanish!
Enter your email address below to get a FREE short story in Spanish and start learning Spanish quickly and naturally with my StoryLearningยฎ method!
What is your current level in Spanish?
FREE Download:
The Rules of Language Learning
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Rules of Language Learning and discover 25 โrulesโ to learn a new language quickly and naturally through stories.
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download Your FREESpanish Vocab Power Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Spanish Vocab Power Pack and learn essential Spanish words and phrases quickly and naturally. (ALL levels!)
What is your current level in Spanish?
Download Your FREENatural Spanish Grammar Pack
Enter your email address below to get free access to my Natural Spanish Grammar Pack and learn to internalise Spanish grammar quickly and naturally through stories.
What is your current level in Spanish?
Free Step-By-Step Guide:
How to generate a full-time income from home with your Englishโฆ even with ZERO previous teaching experience.
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Thai?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Spanish?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Cantonese?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Russian?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Korean?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Japanese?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Italian?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in German?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in French?
Steal My Method?
Iโve written some simple emails explaining the techniques Iโve used to learn 8 languagesโฆ
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
I want to be skipped!
Join 84,574 other language learners getting StoryLearning tips by emailโฆ
โAfter I started to use your ideas, I learn better, for longer, with more passion. Thanks for the life-change!โ โ Dallas Nesbit
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Download this article as a FREE PDF?
What is your current level in Chinese?
Which language are you learning?
What is your current level in [language]?
Find The Perfect Language Course For You!
Looking for a breakthrough in your language learning?
Complete this short survey to find the perfect course for you!