Master These 30+ Must-Know French Prepositions

A preposition is a word or phrase that describes the relationship between two nouns. They are very common and necessary for effective communication in any language, including French. Knowing how to use prepositions is essential in learning a new language if you want to discuss where things are, how they’re moving, when events are happening, and more! 

You’ll find that French has its own nuances when it comes to prepositions. Consider how native New Yorkers are known to say they’re waiting “on line” rather than “in line.” In French, you’ll want to be careful of your preposition choice—in many cases, you won’t be able to rely on direct translations from English! 

Below, we’ll take a detailed look at these differences, understand preposition function and placement in sentences, and learn how prepositions can be used to elevate your conversations. If you want to master French prepositions faster without all of the memorization, Rosetta Stone can help!

>> New to French or need a refresher? Check out this list of 100+ basic French phrases!

Why are prepositions so important?

Prepositions are very commonly used to express a variety of things, including location. Let’s look again at the example from above:

• The book is on the shelf. = Le livre est sur l’étagère.

The preposition “on” dictates the entire meaning of the sentence. If I replace “on” with a different preposition, the whole sentence changes:

• The book is under the shelf. = Le livre est sous l’étagère.
• The book is far from the shelf. = Le livre est loin des étagères.
• The book is near the shelf. = Le livre est près de l’étagère.
• The book is next to the shelf. = Le livre est à côté de l’étagère.

The prepositional word or phrase completely changes the meaning. Knowing the different prepositions is a fundamental part of effective communication in French.

What functions do prepositions serve in French?

Prepositions in French serve several functions that help us communicate relationships and concepts. Here are some useful and common functions of prepositions in French:

1. Origin and Destination

Common prepositions of origin and destination include à (at/to), de (of/from), and vers (toward).

• Nous allons à la boulangerie. = We are going to the bakery.

2. Movement

Some common prepositions of movement are par (through, by), à travers (across/through) and entre (between).

• Le train passe par la gare. = The train goes through the station.

3. Geographical Location

Prepositions like chez (at the house of/place of), près de (near/near to), and en (in) are commonly used to describe places and locations in French.

• Le parc est près de la maison. = The park is near the house.

4. Time

Prepositions of time in French include pendant (during), jusqu’à (until), and depuis (since).

• J’habite en France depuis 2015. = I’ve lived in France since 2015.

5. Physical Location

Prepositions like dans (inside of/in), sur (on/on top of), and sous (under) are used to describe physical relationships between two nouns.

• Le verre est sur la table. = The glass is on the table.

6. Relationships

Prepositions like avec (with), sans (without) and contre (against) signify more abstract relationships between two nouns.

• Je dîne avec ma famille. = I’m having dinner with my family.

How do French prepositions differ from English prepositions?

French prepositions have several key differences from English prepositions.

First, French has fewer prepositions overall than English. This is because many French prepositions have multiple meanings and translations. Context is important in deciphering the English translation. For example, the preposition à can mean “in”, “at”, or “to”, depending on the context.

• J’habite à Paris. = I live in Paris.
• Je vais à Paris. = I’m going to Paris.
• Je suis à la banque. = I am at the bank.

Second, French prepositions are much more literal than English prepositions. For example, in French, you would never say you are “on” (sur) the bus, as this would force someone to picture you on top of the bus. Instead, you say you are “inside of” (dans) the bus, as this is more literal.

Third, when talking about modes of transport, you will use either à or en to describe how you are traveling. Use à when talking about individual, outdoor modes of transportation like walking, swimming or biking. Use en when talking about cars, planes, trains and other vehicles you enter into. 

Next is the French preposition chez. There is no exact English equivalent, but it best translates to “at the house of” or “at the place of”, usually followed by a person. You can use chez to describe whose house or place of work you are visiting. It is also commonly used in restaurant names to describe the owner or chef.

• Nous allons chez nos parents. = We are going to our parents’ house.
• Je vais chez le dentiste. = I am going to the dentist(‘s place).

In addition, talking about going “to” or being “in” specific cities, countries, regions, etc. differs in French. Country and region names are masculine or feminine, which changes how you talk about them. Some countries are also plural, such as the United States. For example:

• Je vais au Sénégal. = I am going to Senegal (masculine).
• Je vais aux États-Unis. = I am going to the United States (plural).
• Je vais en France = I am going to France (feminine).

When talking about cities or islands, you simply use the preposition à to say “in” or “to”.

• Elle est à Paris. = She is in Paris.
• Elle va à Tahiti. = She is going to Tahiti.

Lastly, when using prepositions in French, it is important to note that you cannot end a sentence with a preposition. It is common in English to end a sentence with “to”, “about” or “from,” but this is not the case in French. While many prepositions in French end in de, they need to be followed by a noun or pronoun. 

Complete list of French prepositions

To help familiarize you with French prepositions, below is a list of 42 common French prepositions, alphabetized in French with their English translations. 

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French	English
à	at, to
à côté de	next to, beside
à droite de	to the right of
à gauche de	to the left of
à l’est de	to the east of
à l’extérieur de	(on the) outside of
à l’intérieur de	(on the) inside of
à l’ouest de	to the west of
à partir de	starting from
à travers	across, through
après	after
au bout de	at the end of
au-dessous de	beneath, below
au-dessus de, en haut de	above, over
au lieu de	instead of
au milieu de	in the middle of
au nord de	to the north of
au sud de	to the south of
autour de	around
avant	before
avec	with
chez	at the house of, at the place of
contre	against
dans	in, inside of
de	of, from
depuis	since, for (+ period of time)
derrière	behind
devant	in front of
en	in
en face de	facing, across from
entre	between
envers, vers	towards
jusqu’à	until
loin de	far (away) from
par	through, by (location or authorship)
parmi	among
pendant	during, for (+ period of time)
pour	for
près de	near to
sans	without
sous	underneath
sur	on, on top of

Common French prepositions by function

Now that you’re familiar with the above common French prepositions, we will look at how to use them based on their function. This will help you master when to use French prepositions based on the context.

Below are 42 common French prepositions organized by function:

Origin and Destination

Many prepositions in French are used to discuss the origin and destination of nouns.

• Le bus va de Lyon à Paris = The bus is going from Lyon to Paris.

French	English
à	at, to
à partir de	starting from
au bout de	at the end of
de	of, from
jusqu’à	until

Movement

In addition to describing the origin and destination of a noun, there are several French prepositions to describe the movement of a noun.

• Je vais vers le café. = I am going towards the café.
• Il va à travers le parc. = He is going through the park.

French	English
à travers	across, through
autour de	around
envers, vers	towards

Geographical Location

In addition to describing movement, you can also use prepositions in French to describe geographical location. 

• Le restaurant est au nord de la bibliothèque. = The restaurant is to the north of the library.

Be aware, however, that in English we often drop off “to the” with these phrases, simply saying “north of”. In French you must use the entire prepositional phrase “to the north of” followed by a noun or pronoun.

French	English
à l’est de	to the east of
à l’ouest de	to the west of
au nord de	to the north of
au sud de	to the south of

Time

Prepositions in French can also be used to indicate a relationship in time between two nouns.

• J’étudie jusqu’à cinq heures. = I am studying until 5 o’clock.
• Il travaille pendant la journée. = He is working during the day.

It is important to note that pour, pendant and depuis can all be translated to “for” depending on the context. Pour is most commonly used to indicate “for” with future events, while pendant translates to “for” with completed past events. Otherwise, pendant translates to “during.” Depuis translates to “for” with continuing, present events, otherwise it translates to “since.”

• Nous allons en France pour le week-end. = We are going to France for the weekend.
• Nous sommes allés en France pendant deux semaines. = We went to France for two weeks.
• Nous habitons en France depuis deux ans. = We’ve lived in France for two years.

French	English
à	at, to
après	after
avant	before
de	of, from
depuis	since, for (+ period of time)
jusqu’à	until
pendant	during, for (+ period of time)
pour	for

Physical Location

Another use for French prepositions is to describe the physical relationship between two nouns. For example:

• Le chat est dans la boîte. = The cat is in (inside of) the box.
• Le chat est devant la boîte. = The cat is in front of the box.

The table below lists several prepositions of location in French.

French	English
à côté de	next to, beside
à droite de	to the right of
à gauche de	to the left of
à l’extérieur de	(on the) outside of
à l’intérieur de	(on the) inside of
au-dessous de	beneath, below
au-dessus de, en haut de	above, over
au milieu de	in the middle of
chez	at the house of, at the place of
dans	in, inside of
derrière	behind
devant	in front of
en	in
en face de	facing, across from
entre	between
loin de	far (away) from
par	by (location)
près de	near to
sous	underneath
sur	on, on top of

Relationships

Prepositions’ main function is to indicate the relationship between two nouns. The French prepositions discussed in the previous sections describe more concrete relationships, such as location and time. There are also prepositions that express more abstract relationships. For example:

• Elle a arrêté la voiture sans prévenir. = She stopped the car without warning.

The following list includes prepositions that describe relationships, both concrete and abstract.

French	English
au lieu de	instead of
avec	with
contre	against
parmi	among
sans	without

When do prepositions change form?

Prepositions that end in de need to change form depending on the article of the noun that follows them. Additionally, the preposition à has form changes. These changes are similar to contractions in English. For example, “I have” can become “I’ve.” In French, however, these form changes are not optional as they often are in English.

When de is followed by the definite article le or les, it must change. When followed by la or l’, it doesn’t change. Look at the chart and examples below:

Preposition + Article	Contraction
de + le	du
de + l’	de l’
de + la	de la
de + les	des

• Le train est à gauche du bus. = The train is to the left of the bus.
• Le chat est loin de l’araignée. = The cat is far from the spider.
• Le chien est à côté de la table. = The dog is next to the table.
• La fille est près des garçons. = The girl is close to the boys.

If de is followed by an indefinite article (un/une) or another word that starts with a vowel, it changes to d’.

The same pattern exists with the preposition à. The contractions are slightly different with the articles le and les. Again, look at the table and examples below:

Preposition + Article	Contraction
à + le	au
à + l’	à l’
à + la	à la
à + les	aux

• Je vais au café. = I am going to the café.
• Il va à l’épicerie. = He is going to the grocery store.
• Nous sommes à la Tour Eiffel. = We are at the Eiffel Tower.
• Je vais aux toilettes. = I am going to the restroom.

These patterns exist to improve pronunciation. Mastering these will help you communicate more effectively in French!

Using prepositions to form questions

One last thing to examine when using French prepositions is how to use them in question form. The word order is a bit different than in English, as prepositions must stay “attached” to the question word. For example:

• D’où viens-tu ? = Where do you come from?

Notice the preposition de and the question word où (where) are connected, whereas in English they are not. Look at the chart below for a list of common question words that connect to prepositions, called interrogative expressions:

French	English
à qui	to whom
avec qui	with whom
avec quoi	with what
chez qui	at whose house/place
depuis quand	since when
d’où	from where
pour combien de temps	for how long (how much time)
pour qui	for whom

These expressions must stay “attached” to each other, unlike how we use them in English. Also note that the question word pourquoi (why) is one word, although it originated as an interrogative expression.

Perfecting French prepositions starts with Rosetta Stone

Now that you’ve taken the time to read this blog post about French prepositions, Rosetta Stone is here to help you practice and improve! Remember that language learning is a continuous process that requires time and patience. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion will help you improve more quickly and gain a deeper understanding of French prepositions without memorization.

Dynamic Immersion allows you to learn intuitively without lists or flashcards. By pairing audio from native speakers with fun images, Rosetta Stone will help you learn French grammar rules more intuitively than tedious memorization. 

Rosetta Stone is available online or on your mobile device. Check out our app for iPhone, iPad, and Android, and start immersing yourself in French today!

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Written by Ingrid Narum

Ingrid is a full-time French and EL teacher. She is currently learning Norwegian and Spanish.