Where are you at in French? The prepositions that answer it

Where are you at in French? You ask où es-tu ?, and the answer starts with a preposition: à for most places, chez for people and shops, dans for inside. This page is the French prepositions reference for place and time, from à and chez to devant, près de and depuis. For the question words, see What in French. For le, la and why au exists, see French articles and noun gender. For the country names themselves, see French speaking countries.

Where are you at in French?

Say où es-tu ? with a friend, or où êtes-vous ? with someone you address politely. The Académie française defines où as “en quel lieu, en quel endroit” and gives “Où suis-je ?” and “Où demeurez-vous ?” [1]. Our two sentences follow that pattern.

The reply is a preposition plus a place. The Académie lists à for “le lieu où l’on est”, as in “Dîner à l’auberge” and “Demeurer à Paris” [2].

If you mean “where are you at” as in progress, French says it another way. The Académie lists a figurative use: “Où en sommes-nous ?” [1]. Our où en es-tu ? is built on it.

How do you say at in French?

You say à for most places. The Académie gives it for the place where you are: “Dîner à l’auberge”, “Demeurer à Paris” [2]. Our own examples are à la gare and à la banque.

Three other words also cover “at”:

• Chez for a person or a shop (next section).
• Dans for being inside something.
• Sur for something seen as a surface [8].

How do you say at the in French?

You say au for a masculine word, à la for a feminine word, à l’ before a vowel and aux for a plural. The OQLF defines au as à + le and aux as à + les, and says the contraction is obligatory in almost all contexts [5]. The Académie’s examples show the others stay as they are: “Je rentre à la maison”, “Dîner à l’auberge” [2].

When do you use chez instead of à?

Use chez when the place is a person or a trade. The Académie says a place made of a person’s name or a trade can be introduced only by chez: “aller, être chez le coiffeur” [3]. The OQLF adds that chez comes from the Latin for “house” and works with a name, a pronoun or a title: chez Marie, chez lui, chez mon père [7].

The OQLF contrasts the person with the place: chez le garagiste but au garage, chez l’épicier but à l’épicerie [7]. And chez moi, without a hyphen, is a preposition meaning “at my place” [6].

What are the French prepositions of place?

These are the ones you meet first. The examples marked with a number come from the sources; the others are ours.

Dans and sur depend on how you see the thing. The OQLF says dans goes with a reality seen as a volume, sur with one seen as a surface: dans un livre, sur l’affiche [8]. Sous covers both a thing with no contact above it, “sous un arbre”, and a thing touching the underside, “sous la boîte” [9].

Devant and derrière can also stand alone. The OQLF says devant is a preposition when a complement follows, as in “Il marche devant elle”, and an adverb when none does, as in “Il marche devant” [4]. It lists derrière the same way [13].

How do you say next to in French?

You say à côté de. It is our wording, not an example from the sources. The OQLF defines près as “à côté, à proximité” and gives “Ma voiture est stationnée près de la tienne” [11]. Près de is the form to prefer in a neutral register; proche de is described as familiar or old-fashioned there [11].

For distance, the Académie gives loin de, à deux pas de and près de together: “Il était loin de moi, à deux pas de moi, près de moi” [12]. Say loin de for far and près de for near.

How do you say in front of in French?

You say devant. The OQLF gives “Ma voiture est stationnée devant la librairie”, and says devant can also mean “en face de” or “en présence de” [10]. Do not swap it with avant. The OQLF says avant places things in a sequence along a route: “juste avant l’église sur la rue du Pont” [10].

Which prepositions show time?

Three do most of the work.

• Depuis marks the start of something that still goes on: “Je connais Sarah depuis deux ans” [14].
• Pendant: “des vacances pendant l’hiver” [15]. The OQLF also lists durant there [15].
• En or à place a season: en été, en automne, en hiver, but au printemps [15].

Which preposition goes with cities and countries?

Cities take à: the Académie gives “travailler à Paris, aller à Lyon”, and says sur cannot replace à or en for the city or region where you are or go [3]. Countries follow gender and the first letter [16].

For temperature, use à with a city: “Il fait cinq degrés Celsius à Matane”. The OQLF keeps sur for weather spreading over a place: “Il pleut sur Londres” [18].

Common mistakes

• Using à for a person. Say chez le coiffeur, not “à le coiffeur” [3].
• Writing “à le” or “à les”. The forms are au and aux [5].
• Using sur for a city. Say à Paris, not “sur Paris” [3].
• Using en for every country. Masculine names that start with a consonant take au: au Mexique [16].
• Mixing devant and avant. Devant is position, avant is order [10].
• Choosing dans or sur by habit. Think volume or surface [8].
• Trusting a blog’s rule as final, this one included. The official pages change. Check each page’s date against the date at the top of this one.

See also: places in town in French and the house in French.

Sources