Ch 5 · Lesson 22French · Chapter 5 · Lesson 22 · Grammar primer
À Paris, en France, au Japon
Cities take à; feminine countries , masculine , plural . The same word means in and to, and from follows the same split: France, Japon.
The short version
À for cities,
, Italie.
Why?Hide
Cities always take à: à , à Madrid, à Tokyo. Countries split by gender: for feminine ones and any starting with a vowel ( France, Iran), for masculine ones ( Japon, Canada), for plurals ( -). The same word covers both in and to.
À, en or au: cities and countries
Cities take . Countries take the word their gender asks for. The same word means both in and to:
| Place | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| any city | à | Paris. |
| country | France. | |
| vowel country | Iran. | |
| country | Japon. | |
| plural country | -. |
France.- I'm going to France.France.- I live in France.
Most country names ending in -e are feminine ( France, l'Espagne), so they take . The best-known exception is Mexique: Mexique. (I'm going to Mexico.)
A masculine country starting with a vowel takes too: Iran is masculine, but it is Iran.
A city whose name contains fuses as usual: Havre gives Havre. (I live in Havre.)
From: de, du, des with places
"From" follows the same split: (or ') for cities, feminine countries and vowel countries, for masculine countries, for plurals.
| Place | From | Example |
|---|---|---|
| city | Paris. | |
| country | France. | |
| vowel country | d' | Iran. |
| country | Japon. | |
| plural country | -. |
Portugal.- My parents are from Portugal.
The and are the same fusions as above: Japon cannot exist.
Going further: The core prepositions and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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