Common Prepositions in FrenchA2

A preposition serves to connect one word to another. It often introduces a complement that specifies place, time, cause, purpose, or means. In le livre de Paul, de connects livre and Paul; without this preposition, the relation between the two nouns becomes unclear. In a simple sentence, the preposition comes before the group it introduces: verb + preposition + complement, noun + preposition + noun, adjective + preposition + complement. It can thus give the sentence essential precision. The most frequent prepositions are studied in Prépositions, then revisited according to their meaning in the sections on place, time, the cause and the prepositional phrases.

To say where a person or an object is located, à indicates presence in a place or at a specific point: Je suis à la gare. Dans places something inside: Le chat est dans la boîte. Sur marks contact with a surface: Le livre est sur la table. Sous indicates a lower position: Les chaussures sont sous le lit. With a named place, à often serves for a city, a building or a fixed place: à Paris, à l’école, à la maison. Dans is appropriate when one emphasizes the interior of a closed or delimited space. The choice thus depends on the actual position of the person or object, and the sentence changes completely if one replaces a preposition with another.

Prepositions for origin and departure

Usage	Explanation
Origin of a person	We use de to say where a person or thing comes from.
Starting point in time	We use depuis to talk about an action started in the past and still true now.
Departure from a moment	We use à partir de to mark the beginning of an action or a period.
Au dessous	On utilise sous pour dire qu une chose est plus bas qu une autre et cachée par elle.

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To say where someone comes from or where something starts from, de marks the origin: Je viens de Lyon, Le train part de la gare. With a place, de indicates the starting point or the provenance of an object, a person or an idea. Depuis expresses a starting point in time or space that continues up to the present moment: Il habite ici depuis janvier, Je l’entends depuis le couloir. À partir de marks the beginning of an action, a journey or a rule: À partir de lundi, le magasin ferme à 19 heures. In a statement of provenance, the preposition specifies not only the origin place but also the relationship between the starting point and the rest of the movement.

Prepositions for going toward a place

Usage	Explanation
Precise destination	We use à to go toward a precise place like a city or an activity.
Countries and continents	We use en to go to a feminine country or a continent.
Approximate direction	We use vers to indicate a direction without a precise arrival.

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To go toward a place, à is often used with a specific place: Je vais à Marseille, Nous allons au cinéma. En is used with certain country names, regions or means of transport: en France, en voiture, en avion. Vers indicates an approximate direction or a movement oriented toward without a definite arrival: Il marche vers la plage, Le ciel devient sombre vers l’ouest. The difference is clear: à and en present a real or expected destination, while vers emphasizes orientation. With place names, the chosen preposition depends on the type of destination and the level of precision sought.

Prepositions to situate an action in time

Usage	Explanation
Global moment	We use en to talk about an action that takes place during a given period.
Exact time	We use à to indicate an exact hour or a precise moment.
Complete duration	We use pendant to show an action lasts throughout a period.

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Temporal prepositions situate an action in time. À marks a precise moment: à huit heures, à Noël. En often indicates a duration needed to complete an action or a global period: Le trajet se fait en deux heures, En été, il fait chaud. Pendant frames a complete duration: Il a dormi pendant trois heures. Depuis shows that an action began in the past and continues to the present: Je travaille ici depuis 2020. Pour expresses a planned or announced duration: Je pars pour trois jours. The meaning changes according to the preposition, because an hour, a period, a completed duration and a continuing duration are not constructed in the same way. For time complements, see also Prépositions de Temps.

Prepositions for the means and the instrument

Usage	Explanation
Means of transport	We use en to talk about a means of transport where you enter or use it as a global means.
Concrete instrument	We use avec to indicate the tool or object used to perform the action.
Accompaniment of a person	We use avec to say we do something in the presence of another person.
Point de départ jusqu au présent	On utilise depuis pour une action commencée avant maintenant et toujours en cours.
But limité dans le temps	On utilise pour pour donner une durée prévue ou une intention dans le futur.

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When an action is performed with a person, a tool or a means of transport, the preposition specifies the instrument used. Avec introduces the concrete means or the accompanying person: J’écris avec un stylo, Elle vient avec son frère. En serves for certain means of transport and for a general way: en bus, en train, en silence. Par often indicates the means or channel, especially in a more formal register: par courrier, par téléphone, par avion in certain contexts. A sentence like Il a ouvert la porte avec une clé shows that the preposition links the action to the tool used. The chosen preposition thus reveals the instrument, vehicle or procedure that enables the action.

Prepositions to link two nouns

Usage	Explanation
Possession or link	We use de to show that a noun belongs to another noun or is linked to it.
Destination or attribution	We use à to link two nouns when talking about a recipient or usage.
Goal or intention	We use pour to state the reason or purpose of a noun or an action.

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Prepositions also connect two nouns to show possession, a destination, a function, an absence or a purpose. De marks the most common relationship: la voiture de mon père, un verre d’eau. À can indicate use or destination: une tasse à café, une salle à manger. Pour often expresses the objective or the recipient: un cadeau pour Marie, un outil pour réparer. Sans marks absence: un café sans sucre, une journée sans pluie. In these groups, the preposition does not change the form of the nouns, but it specifies the exact link between them. The same idea can thus become different depending on the preposition chosen.

Prepositions imposed by certain words

Usage	Explanation
Possession ou lien	On utilise de pour montrer qu un nom appartient à un autre nom ou lui est lié.
Destination ou attribution	On utilise à pour relier deux noms quand on parle d un destinataire ou d un usage.
But ou intention	On utilise pour pour dire la raison ou le but d un nom ou d une action.
Absence ou exclusion	On utilise sans pour montrer qu un nom est absent ou non utilisé.

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Some verbs, adjectives and nouns require a specific preposition. One says penser à, parler de, avoir besoin de, être fier de, utile pour, la peur de, l’envie de. The preposition is part of the word’s construction and is not freely chosen. A verb thus shifts frame depending on the complement: Il parle de son voyage does not have the same functioning as Il parle à sa sœur. With an adjective, the preposition links the idea to its complement: content de, prêt à, habitué à. With a noun, it also fixes the relationship: le besoin de calme, la réponse à la question. The most common constructions memorize as sets, because the main word imposes its preposition.

Fixed contractions with articles

Idea
With à and le, you write au.
With à and les, you write aux.
With de and le, you write du.

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When à or de meets le or les, the contraction is obligatory. À + le becomes au, and à + les becomes aux. De + le becomes du, and de + les becomes des. So we say au restaurant, aux enfants, du pays, des amis. These forms are not style choices, but fixed forms of the language. With la and l’, there is no contraction: à la maison, de l’école. Other common combinations like de + le or à + les never appear in written standard form. For longer prepositional groups, fixed forms are also found in Locutions Prépositives.

Choice of prepositions by sense

Idea
Avec à et le, on écrit au.
Avec à et les, on écrit aux.
Avec de et le, on écrit du.
Avec de et les, on écrit des.

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The correct preposition depends on the exact idea to be expressed. Dans stresses the interior of a closed space, en can mark a material, a manner, a country or a period: dans la boîte but en France, en bois, en colère. À is often for a specific point, an address, a moment, a use: à Paris, à midi, une machine à laver. Some expressions are fixed and do not change: à pied, en train, de nuit, sans doute, pour finir. When several prepositions seem possible, the meaning of the noun, the verb or the fixed expression determines the choice. The correct preposition is the one that matches the real relationship, not merely a translation of a word in isolation.

Choice of prepositions depending on meaning

Region	Variant	Definition	Example
France	en	We use en when you view a place as a space or a global state.	Le hamster voyage en boîte à chaussures.The hamster travels en shoebox.
Belgique	dans	We use dans when we want to emphasize the interior of a specific space.	Le hamster disparaît dans la boîte à chaussures.The hamster disappears dans the shoebox.
Québec	expression figée	We keep the learned form in certain expressions that usage makes natural.	Le pirate part en mer avec son canard.The pirate heads out to en sea with his duck.

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