In this video, I explain which preposition to use before the names of cities, countries or continents. It can sometimes be tricky to know whether to say "je pars au Algérie" or "je pars en Algérie", for example. Here's how to find your way around and improve your French 🙂

Transcript of the video

Hello everyone. I hope you're doing well and that your French language learning is going well. Today, we're going to take a look at a grammar point that poses a problem for many students of French. We're going to look together at which preposition to put before the names of cities, countries, regions or continents.

The video will be divided into two parts. In the first part, we'll look together at this grammar point. In the second part, I'll propose a practical exercise. This is the first time I've done a video in this format. I hope you enjoy it. Before you start, remember to activate the French subtitles.

As I tell you every time, this will help you understand the video and remember what we're going to see together. If you're new to the channel, don't forget to subscribe to receive all the videos. First of all, for those of you who don't know what prepositions are in French, prepositions are invariable little words that never change, used to introduce a complement. A complement can be a place, a person, a time.

For example, I can say I'm going to Isabelle's or I'm going to the hairdresser's. Chez is a preposition that introduces a person. I can also say I'm going to the supermarket "at" is a preposition that introduces a place, or I can say: In France, the curfew starts at 6pm.

We use "to" to introduce a time.

Let's take a look at the rules for using the right preposition. Let's start with "au". The preposition "au" should be used to introduce masculine country names. Country names preceded by the determiner "le", such as Brazil, Portugal and Chile. "The" is transformed into "au". For example, I can say, I live in Chile, I go to Portugal or I work in Brazil.

Let's move on to the preposition "aux".

It's very simple: we use this preposition before country names or island names in the plural. We'll see "les" as determiners before these country names or island names. They will also end with an "s" to show that they are plural. For example, the United States, the Seychelles, the Netherlands or the West Indies. We'll say I'm going to the United States, I dream of going to the Seychelles, I live in the West Indies or I'm going on vacation to the Netherlands.

Let's move on to the preposition "en", which is used in 3 cases. Let's start with the first case. We use "en" before feminine country names. Feminine country names are preceded by the determiner "la". There's a trick to finding out whether country names are feminine or masculine. It will help you a lot to know which preposition to use. All country names ending in "e" are feminine, like Italy, France, Norway, Spain.

All these country names are feminine, and you need to use "en" as a preposition. For example, I'm going on vacation to Italy, I live in France, I work in Norway. I'd like to go to Algeria. Of course, there are exceptions: there are six, six countries that end with an "e", but are masculine. So you'll need to use the preposition "au".

There's no secret to learning the names of these countries by heart. Learning by heart that they are masculine. There's Mexico. Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Belize and Suriname. Let's move on to the second case of using "en" as a preposition: we use "en" in front of all country names that start with a vowel. In French, vowels are a e i o u y. Countries beginning with a vowel have an apostrophe "l" as their determinant.

For example, we'll say I'm going to Iran. I'm going to Arizona, in the United States, I'm going to live in Angola. The third case in which we use "en" is in front of all the names of continents in French. In French, it's easy anyway, because all continental names start with a vowel and end with the letter "e". So there's no choice. We use the preposition en to introduce them. I'm moving to Europe, I live in Oceania.

I'd love to go to America. I'm moving to Africa. Finally, the last preposition is "à" with an accent. We use "à" to introduce all city names. I live in London, I'm going to Paris. I'd like to go to Algiers. Of course, this is French, so there are a few exceptions, but don't worry, they're easy to spot. We put "à" in front of city names, except for those with a masculine determiner "le", e.g. Cairo or Cape Town.

As these are cities with a masculine determiner, we'll transform the "the" into "au". For example, I'm visiting my sister in Cairo, or I'd like to go to Cape Town. We use the preposition "à" in a second case. It's used to introduce all country nouns that don't have an article. There's no "le", "la" or "l'" apostrophe in front of the country name. There's a little trick to recognizing them.

Generally speaking, these are countries that are actually large islands. Surrounded by water, but quite large islands. For example, we don't say Cyprus or Cyprus. We just say Cyprus. So we'll say I'm going to Cyprus, or we'll say I'm going to Madagascar, or we'll say I'm going to Cuba. Of course, this is French, so there are always a few exceptions. There are a few large islands that have determinants. Japan, for example, has a masculine determiner. So we'll say je vais au Japon (I'm off to Japan). There's also Corsica, which has a feminine determiner, Sicily, which also has a feminine determiner, and Australia and Guadeloupe, which are islands but have a determiner. So we'll say I'm going to Guadeloupe, I live in Australia, I'm going to Sicily or I'm going on vacation to Corsica.

But keep this rule in mind. In general, if it's a large island, we'll use the preposition "à".

Now for a practical exercise. I'm going to read you a text with lots of prepositions, but also lots of mistakes. I'll also put it in writing to make it easier for you. It's up to you to find these errors and correct them in the comments on the video. I'll come back and correct you in the comments. I'll also include the solution to this exercise in the video description.

Of course, don't cheat! We're off.

I live in France and work in Paris. I'd like to go to another country for the vacations. I'm hesitating between going to Tulum in Mexico, a big city in the United States or Japan. I'm also dreaming of going to Malta, which looks like a really beautiful island. Rome in Italy also sounds very interesting. I've also heard a lot about Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Do you have a city or country to recommend? My sister suggested Brazil. What do you think? I think I'd rather stay in Europe, on islands like the Canaries, for example.

Now it's your turn. I look forward to your answers in the comments. That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this video and learned something new.

See you soon.