Les prépositions géographiques

 

Source:  http://french.about.com/od/geography/French_Geography.htm

 

Les pays

When trying to determine which preposition to use with a country or continent, the only difficulty is in knowing its gender.

Nearly all countries that end in e are feminine and the rest are masculine. There are just a few exceptions:


 

 

All continents end in e and all are feminine.

Once you know the gender, it is a simple matter to decide which preposition to use. Masculine and plural countries take à or de plus the appropriate definite article (le, la, or les). Feminine countries and continents take en or de, no article.

Country is: 

To or In

From

masculine

au / à l'

du / de l'

feminine

en

de / d'

plural

aux

des

Examples:

Masculine country

Feminine country

Plural country

Continent

Je vais au Danemark.

Elle va en France.

Il va aux Etats-Unis.

Tu vas en Europe.

Je suis au Danemark.

Elle est en France.

Il est aux Etats-Unis.

Tu es en Europe.

Je suis du Danemark.

Elle est de France.

Il est des Etats-Unis. 

Tu es d'Europe.

 

Les villes et les îles

Unlike the other geographical names, the gender of an island or city does not affect which preposition must be used.

The prepositions à and de (or d') are always used with cities and singular islands, while aux and des are used with plural islands.


 

 

 

To / In

From

city or singular island

à

de / d'

plural islands

aux

des

Examples:

City

Singular Island 

Plural Islands

J'habite à Paris.
Je suis de Paris.

Je vais à Hawaï.
Je suis d'Hawaï.

Je vais aux Îles Cook.
Je suis des Îles Cook.

Les états

In order to decide which preposition to use with an American state, you must first determine its gender, which is a matter of memorization: all but nine states are masculine.

  1. Masculine states can be preceded by either dans le or au to mean to/in, and du to mean from unless they start with a vowel (see 2, below).
      
    Exceptions: dans/de l'état de New York, dans/de l'état de Washington: these are said this way to distinguish between the cities and the states by the same name.
      
  2. Masculine states that start with a vowel can take either en or dans l' for to/in, and d' or de l' to mean from.  Example:  Arizona (m):  en Arizona/dans l’Arizona, d’Arizona/de l’Arizona
  3. All feminine states take en (to, in) and de (from).

 

Meaning

State/Province is: 

To or In

From

masculine and starts with consonant

dans le / au

du

masculine and starts with vowel

dans l' / en

de l' / d'

feminine

en

de

 Examples:

Masculine

Feminine

Exceptions

Je vais dans le Nevada.

Je suis en Floride.

Je travaille dans l'état de New York.

Il est du Québec.

Elle est de Géorgie.

Il est de l'état de Washington.

Nous sommes en Illinois.

 

Es-tu d'Arizona ?

 

 

 


 

Here are the 50 US states as said in French. Most states are masculine; only the nine in italics are feminine.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

Californie

Caroline du Nord

Caroline du Sud

Colorado

Connecticut

Dakota du Nord

Dakota du Sud

Delaware

Floride

Géorgie

Hawaï

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiane

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

l'état de New York*

Nouveau-Mexique

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvanie

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginie

Virginie-Occidentale

l'état de Washington*

Wisconsin

Wyoming

*These are said this way to distinguish between the cities and the states with the same name.