1.47: Prepositions avec places geographiques

To tell people in which continent, country, state, or city you live, you need to know the names in French and which preposition you put before them. In English, the only thing you have to know is ‘in’:

▫︎ I live in America. I live in the United States. I live in California. I live in San Diego.

But in French, that préposition will vary.

☞ J’habite en Amérique. J’habite aux États-Unis. J’habite en Californie. J’habite à San Diego.

I live in America. I live in the United States. I live in California. I live in San Diego.

How do you choose between en, au, aux and à?

• The preposition à

Every time you mention a city, the preposition à precedes the city name.

☞ J’habite à Rome.

• The preposition en

Countries that end in ‘e’ and the one that starts with a vowel will use the préposition en.

☞ Je vais en France et en Australie.

• The preposition aux

Countries that end in ‘s’.

☞ J’habite aux États-Unis.

• The preposition au

All other countries that do not end in ‘e’ or ‘s’ use au.

☞ Je voyage au Brésil, au Danemark et au Japon.

Exception

Mexico is Mexique in French. You need to sayau Mexique. The same with Cambodge, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Practice

Liste des pays et des continents