[0:00]I find that we spend so much time talking about where we live, where other people live, where we want to travel, what's happening in certain countries or cities, that you need to have a good grasp of prepositions when communicating about geographical names in French. In this video, I'll discuss which preposition to use when trying to say in a country or in a city or to a country or to a city.
[0:37]Basically, for feminine countries use on, for example, j'habite en Belgique, I live in Belgium. It's La Belgique, so we use on. For masculine countries, use O, for example, J'habite au Canada, I live in Canada. It's Le Canada, so we use O. For plural countries, like the United States, use O with an X. For example, J'habite aux États-Unis. And finally, for cities, use a. So for example, Vancouver is a city in British Columbia, you would say J'habite à Vancouver. That's it. But not really. While what I just mentioned is a very good set of rules to keep in mind, and it's something that I still keep in mind when communicating in French, and it has helped me a lot, but there are a few exceptions and things we still have to look at. First of all, which countries are masculine and which countries are feminine? How are we supposed to know? Well, here it is. Countries that end with an e are feminine and take n. So for example, the countries l'Italie, la Belgique, la Suisse, la Pologne, they all end in e. So whenever you want to say in Italy, in Belgium, or to Switzerland, to Poland, you're going to use on. Basically, every other country, countries that don't end with an e are masculine and take au. And remember that au is a mandatory contraction of a plus le. As you see here, these countries don't end with the letter E, they end with a different letter, making them masculine, and that's why we use O for them. So for example, Je vais au Canada, I'm going to Canada, or J'habite au Japon, I live in Japan. There are a few exceptions to the two rules I just mentioned about feminine and masculine countries, and here they are, there's six of them. And so although these countries end with an e, they are masculine. Okay, so it's Le Mexique. For example, Je vais au Mexique. These countries take O. Also, there are masculine countries that use n, and these are countries in which the first letter starts with a vowel or mute H. So think of countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, etc, etc. So if a country starts with a vowel or mute H, you don't even have to think about whether it's masculine or feminine, you're going to use on. Funny story, I remember talking to a francophone from Haiti on the phone once, and I don't remember exactly what we were talking about, but I remember I kept saying O Haiti, because, you know, I had this rule in my head. Haiti doesn't end with an e, it must be masculine, I have to use O. And he was giggling a bit, and I was like, why is he giggling so much? Is my French really that bad? He then proceeded to say on dit en Haiti et pas O Haiti. And uh, I learned something new. He was a friendly guy though, he taught me a few things, and I enjoyed practicing my French with him. Moral of the story is, if a country starts with a vowel or mute H, you're going to use on. This also applies to all six continents, since they all start with vowels. So for all six continents, you're also going to use on. Next, countries that are plural take O with an X. And just remember that O with an X is a mandatory contraction of a plus le. So again, any plural country, such as the United States, the Netherlands, the Philippines, they use the article le in French. And so when you want to say to a plural country, or in a plural country, you're going to use O with an X. So for example, Je vais voyager aux États-Unis. I'm going to travel to the United States, use O with an X, because it's a plural country. Cities, villages and towns take a. And so, for example, you would say Je vais voyager à Vancouver. I'm going to travel to Vancouver, or J'habite à Paris. I live in Paris.
[5:37]So again, any city, village, town, you're going to use a. However, you're also going to use a for some islands, and I learned this because I like to talk about how much I want to go somewhere tropical, like Cuba or Hawaii. And so again, with certain islands like Cuba, Madagascar, Hawaii, you're also going to use a. Lastly, if you want to say I'm from somewhere or I'm coming from somewhere, you're going to use de, du or de. For feminine countries, use de. For example, Il vient de Belgique. He's from Belgium, or he's coming from Belgium, depending on the context. For masculine countries, use du. For example, Je viens du Canada. I'm from Canada, or I'm coming from Canada. And again, du is a mandatory contraction of de plus le. For plural countries, use de. For example, On vient des États-Unis. We're from the United States, or we're coming from the United States. And again, de is a mandatory contraction of de plus le. And finally, for cities, you're going to use de. For example, Je viens de Vancouver. I'm from Vancouver, or I'm coming from Vancouver, depending on the context. And that's it, French geographical prepositions. Now, I know there are quite a few rules, and there are exceptions to the rules, and there are exceptions to the exceptions. But my advice is just to keep these four rules in mind when communicating about countries or cities, and then learn the few exceptions as you go along in your learning journey. Thank you everyone for watching. I really hope you learned something from this video. If you did, please hit that like button and subscribe in order to see future content. Also, no matter your French level, feel free to follow me on my Instagram, my Twitter or my Facebook for vocab, memes, song lyrics, useful expressions, and more.
