french prepositions

By , on October 17, 2010, at 6:29 pm | 7 comments | 4,005 views

Bonjour chers amis! It’s now time to study the FRENCH PREPOSITIONS. Yes, these little “pesky buggers” that so many of my students are afraid of. But rest assured, they’re not as hard as they seem. Here, with some very useful audio examples, this lesson will show you how to use all of them in various situations.

NOUVELLE LEÇON / NEW LESSON

What are PREPOSITIONS? Prepositions are words which connect two related parts of a sentence. Usually, these prepositions will be placed placed in front of nouns in order to indicate a relationship between that noun and the verb, adjective, or noun that precedes it. Here are 3 examples:

  1. Pierre vient de France. (Pierre comes from France.)
  2. Je mange ma salade avec une fourchette. (I am eating my salad with a fork.)
  3. Le verre est derrière le comptoir. (The glass is behind the counter.)
FRENCH PREPOSITIONS
ENGLISH FRENCH EXAMPLES
at/to/in à He arrived at 7 o’clock. Il est arrivé à 7 heures.
We will go to Paris next year. Nous irons à Paris l’an prochain.
She lives in Minneapolis. Elle vit à Minneapolis.
about/from/of de/d’ This politician talks about development. Ce politicien parle de développement.
Are you coming from the train station? Viens-tu de la gare de train?
The key of this door is broken. La clef de cette porte est cassée.
at the house of chez We go to Roger’s house after the movie. Nous allons chez Roger après le film.
At my house, there is always some wine. Chez moi, il y a toujours du vin.
next to/ besides à côté de They live next to noisy neighbors. Ils habitent à côté de voisins bruyants.
after après I should leave right after the game. Je devrais partir juste après le match.
before
 avant We’ll have dinner before the concert. Nous dînerons avant le concert.
approximately environ There are approximately 20 students in this room. Il y a environ 20 étudiants dans cette salle.
according to selon According to Kathy, Sam will come today. Selon Kathy, Sam viendra aujourd’hui.
between entre She is sitting between John and Mark. Elle est assise entre Jean et Marc.
in dans/en He put a coin in the jar. Il a mis une pièce dans la tirelire.
The French people live in France. Les Français vivent en France
for/to pour I need onions for my omelet. J’ai besoin d’oignon pour mon omelette.
I need onions to make my omelet. J’ai besoin d’oignon pour faire mon omelette.
up(stairs)
 en haut
 Look up, please. Regardez en haut, s’il vous plaît.
down(stairs) en bas
 The shirts are downstairs. Les chemises sont en bas.
without sans I can’t live without you. Je ne peux vivre sans vous.
with avec I have my tea with some sugar. Je prends mon thé avec du sucre.
despite malgré we shall win despite everything. Nous vaincrons malgré tout.
through à travers They drive through the forest. Ils conduisent à travers la forêt.
as for, regarding
 quant à
 As for this matter, we must resolve it immediately. Quant à cette affaire, nous devons la resoudre immediatement.
outside of
 hors de This case is outside of my jurisdiction. Cette affaire est hors de ma compétence.
towards vers/envers Mary goes towards the bridge. Marie va vers le pont.
Your attitude towards your brother is unacceptable. Ton attitude envers ton frère est inacceptable.
outside of
 en dehors de
 There is nothing outside of this space. Il n’y a rien en dehors de cet espace.
among(st) parmi Your are welcome among us. Vous êtes le bienvenu parmi nous.
until/up to
 jusque Nothing happened until now. Rien ne s’est passé jusqu’à maintenant.
since/for depuis I’ve been living here since 2001. Je vis ici depuis 2001.
He has lived here for 5 years. Il vit ici depuis 5 ans.
during/while pendant
 Joanne will go to Brazil during the month of July. Joanne ira au Brésil pendant le mois de Juillet.
Joanne listens to music while she studies. Joanne écoute de la musique pendant qu’elle étudie.
because of
 à cause de
 John lost money because of this silly error.Jean a perdu de l’argent à cause de cette stupide erreur.
against contre The residents of this neighborhood are against this project. Les résidents de ce quartier sont contre ce projet.
around autour de The Moon turns around the Earth. La lune tourne autour de la terre.
during durant I went to get myself some tea during your absence. Je suis allé me prendre du thé durant votre absence.
behind derrière She forgot her purse behind her. Elle a oublié son portefeuille derrière elle.
in front of
 devant Watch out! There is a bear in front of you! Attention! Il y a un ours devant toi.
PREPOSITIONAL CONTRACTIONS
FRENCH ENGLISH EXAMPLES
a + le = au at/to/in the Il est allé au supermarché. (He went to the supermarket)

As-tu vu les animaux au zoo? (Did you see the animals at the zoo?)
a + les = aux at/to/in the (pl.) Aux États-Unis, il y a beaucoup de ranchs.( In the United States, there are many ranches.)

Je parle aux amis de Michel. (I am talking to Michel’s friends)
de + le = du of/from/about the Sachiko vient du marché. (Sachiko comes from the market)

Nous parlons du monsieur là-bas. (We’re talking about the man over there.)
de + les = des of/from/about the (pl.) Parlez-vous des ours polaires au zoo? (Are you talking about the polar bears at the zoo?)

Bill Clinton est des États-Unis. (Bill Clinton is from the United States.)
October 17th, 2010 | Category: | 7 comments | 4,005 views

7 comments to french prepositions

  • supecoop
    1, October 19, 2010 at 1:28 AM

    I cannot figure out how to match your lessons to the exercises. The current lesson (October 17, 2010) probably has an exercise to use for practice, but the Exercise Downloads page is listed by “week” and is not indexed for any particular subject. Similarly, when I watch an older lesson on the video page, I cannot match it to an exercise. I know I’m missing something but – I’m lost. Thanks for any help. Your work is great. I just cannot coordinate it.

    • prof_frenchtastic
      1, October 19, 2010 at 12:07 PM

      Bonjour Supecoop,
      Thanks for the comment. First off, I would like to apologize for the confusion you’re experiencing with the materials posted online. The thing is, the newer lessons so far aren’t linked to any exercise or exam. My main goal over the last few months has been to post as many lessons as possible in order to recreate online a full academic year worth of French lessons (basically, transfer all my real lessons of semesters 1 and 2 from paper version to an electronic version. It takes time to design more than 100 modules, but I’m committed to finish this project) After all lessons are completed, hopefully in the next 2-3 months, I will give them a more structured organization and combine them with exams and exercises.
      You have not be the only person to feel a bit disoriented among all these materials I throw at you every week, and I understand the need to have some exercises linked to each lesson. I will make sure to make this happen…I ask you to bear with me for now until I completion of this project. In the meantime, if I can find the time to create an exercise in addition to a lesson, I will make certain to do so. Thanks so much for your interest in this language program, and it was nice talking to you. Merci!

      P.S. Although the newer lessons aren’t connected to any other exams, all the lessons in the Youtube Download sections (arranged into weeks) are. Simply match the weeks in “Lessons” with the weeks in “Exercises / Exam / Solutions” and you should be able to navigate among them easily and self-assess your progress in this course. Merci.
      Herman

  • patrick_nguyen
    1, October 23, 2010 at 8:10 PM

    In ‘Il y a environ 20 étudiants dans cette salle.’, it seems environ is not voiced in audio. Am I wrong?

  • patrick_nguyen
    1, October 25, 2010 at 10:03 PM

    Merci pour votre réponse

  • shirish
    1, October 24, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    This politician talks about development. Ce politicien parle de développement. does not have audio file

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