Kilo Lingo
French grammar Part of Chapter 5

CEFR A1-A2

5 min read

Test yourself (25 questions)

French Prepositions: à, de, en, dans, chez List and Rules

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

French has eight prepositions you need on day one, and two rules that bend them. À and fuse with and : . (I'm going to the cinema.) And places choose between à, and . Here is the core set:

PrepositionMeaningExample
to, at Paris.
of, from .
in, to, by France.
in, inside .
on .
under .
at someone's .
with .

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Which word goes in the gap?

  1. Le livre est la table. (on)

  2. Le chat dort le lit. (under)

  3. Le chat est la cuisine. (in)

and carry the most grammar, so they get the next section. does three jobs (countries, transport, time) and has its own sections further down.

The core prepositions

The place words are the ones you can point at. Here they are with a cat and a box, plus three more you will want straight away:

Six small panels with a grey cat and a yellow box: the cat sits on the box; the cat sits under the box, which stands on legs like a little table; the cat pokes its head out of the open box; the cat sits beside the box; the cat peeks over the top from behind the box with its tail sticking out; the cat sits in front of the box.

The cat is on, under, in, beside, behind and in front of the box.

FrenchEnglishExample
on .
under .
in, inside .
beside .
behind .
in front of .

ends in , so it fuses like any : , beside the bed. The next section is that rule.

The mandatory contractions

When or meets or , the two words fuse into one. This is not optional: à and do not exist in French.

the fused formfeminine (no fusion)What do the colours mean?
Je vais au cinéma. I'm going to the cinema.
Articleà + articlede + article
l'

Only and fuse. and l' stay as they are, beside the preposition:

  • . - I'm going to the cinema.
  • . - I'm at home.
  • . - I'm talking to the children.
  • . - It's the doctor's book.

The and here are + article, "of the". They look exactly like the partitive (some bread) on the partitives page, but the job is different, and the sentence tells you which.

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:

masculine countryfeminine countryplural countryWhat do the colours mean?
PlaceWordExample
any cityà 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.

PlaceFromExample
city Paris.
country France.
vowel countryd' Iran.
country Japon.
plural country -.
  • Portugal. - My parents are from Portugal.

The and are the same fusions as above: Japon cannot exist.

en or dans

endansWhat do the colours mean?

Both translate as in, but they cover different ground. goes straight before the noun with no article; takes one and means inside something specific:

endans
France

With time, the split changes the meaning completely:

  • . - I finished in two hours. (it took two hours)
  • . - I'm leaving in two hours. (two hours from now)

en voiture, à pied: transport

Vehicles you ride inside take ; your feet and things you sit astride take . Neither takes an article:

en (inside)à (on top)
  • . - I go to work by car.
  • . - I walk to school.

You will hear all the time, in speech and in print, but is the form recommend. means physically inside one particular car: . (The cat is in the car.)

chez

means "at the place of" a person: their home, or their shop or surgery. English needs several words for it; French needs one.

  • . - I'm at home.
  • Marie. - I'm having dinner at Marie's.
  • . - I'm going to the doctor's.

always takes a person, a name or a pronoun, never a building. A building takes :

  • . - I'm going to the hospital.
  • . - I'm going to the doctor's.

Common mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
à + always fuses
+ always fuses
France France country: , no
Japon Japon country:
by car: , no article
a person's place takes
from now is

The last row is wrong only when you mean "two hours from now". is right for how long something took.

What to do next

  1. Say where five things in your room are, with , , and .
  2. Name three countries you would like to visit, with or .
  3. Then move on to verbs with à, de or nothing, the prepositions a verb demands.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/5

Which word goes in the gap?

  1. Le livre est la table. (on)

  2. Le chat dort le lit. (under)

  3. Le chat est la cuisine. (in)

  4. Demain je vais le docteur. (to the doctor's)

  5. Je voyage mes parents. (with)

Pick the right one

0/4

Which form goes in the gap? Only le and les fuse.

  1. Je vais cinéma. (à + le)

  2. C'est le livre docteur. (de + le)

  3. Je parle enfants. (à + les)

  4. Je suis maison. (à + la)

Sort into groups

0/6

Which word goes in front of each place?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/5

Tap the mistake English speakers make.

Matching

0/5

Match the French to the English.

Chapters 1 and 2 free

This article is one lesson in a whole course

Every grammar point has its own article and drill, and the course wraps them in graded stories, games and printable worksheets, in the order you need them.

Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.

Start learning free

French · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Part of Kilo Lingo Plus

Printables beyond chapters 1 and 2 are part of Kilo Lingo Plus. Sign up free and start your free week to download as many as you like: no card.

Start your free week (no card)

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

Why is it ' ' and not 'à ' in French?
French contracts the prepositions à and with the masculine and plural definite articles. À + becomes ( ), à + becomes ( ), + becomes ( ), and + becomes ( ). The contractions are compulsory. They only apply to and ; à and à l' stay as they are (à , à ).
When do I use 'à' versus '' for a country?
Countries take when they are feminine or start with a vowel ( France, Italie, Iran), and when they are masculine and start with a consonant ( Japon, Canada, Portugal). Plural country names take ( -, -). Cities take à (à Paris, à Madrid); a city whose name contains contracts, so Havre. The same word covers in and to: France (I'm going to France), France (I live in France).
Is it or à voiture in French?
. Vehicles you travel inside take : , , , . Things you sit astride, and your feet, take à: à , à , à , à . is very common too, but à is the form recommend.
What is the difference between and with time in French?
gives the time something takes: (I read the book in two days). gives the time from now until it happens: (I'm leaving in two days). English uses in for both, which is why learners mix them up.
How do you say 'at someone's house' in French?
Use + the person: (at my place, at home), Marie (at Marie's), (at the doctor's). always takes a person, a name or a pronoun, never a building: it is à , but .