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Getting Around the City (1) (Prepositions of Location)

By , on October 25, 2010, at 9:39 am | 31 comments | 25,644 views

Bonjour tout le monde!!!
There exist a number of well-known public places in most cities (restaurant, church, hospital, museum, etc.) that most city-dwellers visit each day at any given moment.
This lesson will teach you the meanings of these public places in French, but most importantly, how to use them in combination with the FRENCH PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATION.
I. List of the most common prepositions of location in French:

MOST COMMON PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATION IN FRENCH
à côté de (beside) près de (near (to)) loin de (far from)
sous (under) sur (on, upon) dans (in, inside)
en face de (opposite) derrière (behind) devant (in front of)
entre (between) le coin (the corner) au coin de la rue (in the street corner)

NOTE: Because a preposition of location can oftentimes change based on the gender / number of the name of place that follows it, I will therefore divide this lesson into three sections. Section A follows right below [masculine nouns of public places]. For Sections B and C, click on the following links:

  1. SECTION B: PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATIONS WITH FEMININE NOUNS OF PUBLIC PLACES
  2. SECTION C: PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATIONS WITH NOUNS OF PUBLIC PLACES STARTING WITH A VOWEL OR SILENT H

Modifications to make to the prepositions of location based on the gender of the following noun (examples are provided later in each section):

en face de (opposite) à côté de (beside) près de (near) loin de (far from) à (to/in/at) de (from)
Masculine en face du + place à côté du + place près du + place loin du + place au + place du + place
Feminine en face de la + place à côté de la + place près de la + place loin de la + place à la + place de la + place
Vowel/Silent h
(masc. or fem.)		 en face de l’ + place à côté de l’ + place près de l’ + place loin de l’ + place à l’ + place de l’ + place

II. List of common names of public places in the city (Section A):

MASCULINE NOUNS
LES ENDROITS PUBLICS (PUBLIC PLACES) EXAMPLES
le cinéma
(cinema/movie theater)		 le cinéma est loin du restaurant
(The cinema is far from the restaurant)
le jardin public
(the public garden)		 Jacques se promène dans le jardin public
(Jacques is taking a walk in the public garden)
le lycée
(the high-school)		 Il y a un cinéma derrière le lycée
(There is a cinema behind the high-school)
le musée
(the museum)		 Les lycéens vont au musée le samedi
(The high-school students go to the museum on Saturdays)
le commissariat de police
(the police-station)		 le commissariat de police est près du musée
(The police station is near the museum)
le bureau de poste
(the post-office)		 Le bureau de poste est sur l’avenue Washington
(The post-office is on Washington avenue)
le restaurant
(the restaurant)		 Le restaurant est en face du lycée
(The restaurant is opposite the high-school)
le théâtre
(the theater)		 Mes parents sont au théâtre ce soir
(My parents are at the theater tonight)
le temple
(the temple)		 Il y a des bouddhistes qui prient dans ce temple
(There are Buddhists praying in this temple)

DON’T FORGET TO VISIT NOW:

  1. SECTION B: PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATIONS WITH FEMININE NOUNS OF PUBLIC PLACES
  2. SECTION C: PREPOSITIONS OF LOCATIONS WITH NOUNS OF PUBLIC PLACES STARTING WITH A VOWEL OR SILENT H
October 25th, 2010 | Category: | 31 comments | 25,644 views

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