Prepositions (1/3)

Test yourself

In, To, Of

Prepositions are words like 'in', 'to' or 'of'. They let you add more detail to a sentence.

'À' - 'to', 'in' or 'at'

'À' can mean 'to', 'in' or 'at' - it changes when followed by 'le' or 'les'.
- À + le → Au - masculine singular.
- À + la → À la - feminine singular.
- À + l' → À l' - before a vowel or 'h'.
- À + les → Aux - masculine, feminine plural.
- Je vais au ciné - I go to the cinema.
- Je suis à la plage - I am at the beach.

'En' can mean 'in' or 'to'.

'En' is used instead of 'à' before feminine countries or countries that start with a noun.
- J'habite en France - I live in France.
- Je suis allé en Inde - I went to India.
To say how long an action takes, or when saying something happened at a pecific time (month, year, season).
- J'y suis allé en janvier - I went there in January.
- Je l'ai fait en dix minutes - I did it in 10 minutes.
To say what something is made of.
- Un pull en laine - a wool jumper.

'De' can mean 'of' or 'from'

'De' can mean 'of'.
- Une verre de l'eau - a glass of water.
- Une tasse de café - a mug of coffee.
Like 'à', 'de' changes with 'le' and 'les'.
- De + le → Du - masculine singular.
- De + la → De la - feminine singular.
- De + l' → De l' - before a vowel or some 'h'.
- De + les → Des - masculine, feminine plural

Verbs That Use 'A' or 'De'

Some verbs are only followed by 'à' or 'de'.

Illustrative background for 'À' ?? "content

'À'

(S')intéresser à - to be interested in.
Aider à - to help.
Écrire à - to write to.
Rendre visite à - to visit (someone).
Demander à - to ask (something of/to).
Parler à - to speak to.
Téléphoner à - to phone (someone).
Faire attention à - to pay attention to.
Répondre à - to reply.

Illustrative background for 'De' ?? "content

'De'

S'agir de - to be about.
Manquer de - to lack.
Profiter de - to make the most of.
Avoir envie, besoin, peur de - to want, need, be scared of.
Penser de - to have an opinion about.
Dépendre de - depend on.
Se méfier de - to not trust.

Jouer

The verb 'jouer' takes different prepositions depending on what the object is.
- Jouer à - to play (sport)
- Jouer de - to play (instrument).

1Home & Abroad

1.1Town & Rural Life

1.1.1Town

1.1.2What, Which, Where?

1.1.3What is There in Your Region?

1.1.4Places in the Town

1.1.5Things To Do

1.2Holiday, Tourism & Directions

1.2.1Countries

1.2.2Holidays

1.2.3Going on Holiday

1.2.4Tourism

1.2.5Food

1.2.6Eating Out

1.2.7Opinions on Food

1.2.8Directions (1/2)

1.2.9Directions (2/2)

1.2.10Exam-Style Questions - Holidays

1.3Customs

1.3.1Festivals & Customs

1.3.2Festivals and Customs 2

1.4Everyday Life & Traditions

1.4.1Greetings

2Education & Employment

2.1School Life & Routine

2.1.1Subjects (1/2)

2.1.2Subjects (2/2)

2.1.3School Routine

2.1.4School Life

2.1.5Exam-Style Questions - School Life

2.2School Trips, Events & Exchanges

2.2.1School Trips

2.3Future Plans & Work

2.3.1Education Post-16

2.3.2Jobs (1/2)

2.3.3Jobs (2/2)

2.3.4Job Applications

2.3.5Career

2.3.6Learning a Language

2.3.7Charity

2.3.8Exam-Style Questions - Charity Work

3Personal Life & Relationships

3.1House & Home

3.1.1Home

3.1.2Rooms of the House

3.1.3In Your House

3.2Daily Routine & Helping at Home

3.2.1Routine

3.2.2Helping at Home

3.3Family & Friends

3.3.1Describing Yourself

3.3.2Physical Appearance

3.3.3Personality

3.3.4Friends

3.3.5Opinions on Friends

3.3.6Relationships

3.3.7Family

3.3.8Other Family Members

3.3.9Role Model

3.3.10Childhood

3.3.11Exam-Style Questions - Family

4The World Around Us

4.1Global Issues

4.1.1The Environment (1/2)

4.1.2The Environment (2/2)

4.1.3Exam-Style Questions - The Environment

4.1.4Addressing the Issue

4.1.5Poverty & Homelessness

4.1.6Social Issues

4.1.7Energy

4.2Weather

4.2.1Good Weather

4.2.2Bad Weather

4.3Travel & Transport

4.3.1Transport

4.4The Media

4.4.1Social Media

4.4.2The Internet

4.4.3Exam-Style Questions - Internet

4.5Information & Tech

4.5.1Mobile Technology

5Social Activities, Fitness & Health

6Common Tenses

6.1Present Tense

6.1.1Regular ER Verbs

6.1.2Regular IR Verbs

6.1.3Regular RE Verbs

6.1.4Reflexive Verbs

6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)

6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)

6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)

6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)

6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)

6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)

6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)

6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)

6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)

6.1.14Irregular Present Participles

6.1.15Avoir & Etre

6.2Perfect Tense

6.2.1Avoir (1/2)

6.2.2Avoir (2/2)

6.2.3Irregular Past Participles (1/2)

6.2.4Irregular Past Participles (2/2)

6.2.5Être ER Verbs

6.2.6Être IR & RE Verbs

6.2.7Irregular Être

6.2.8Perfect Infinitive

6.3Imperfect tense

6.3.1Regular ER Verbs

6.3.2Regular IR Verbs

6.3.3Regular RE Verbs

6.3.4Irregular ER Verbs

6.3.5Irregular IR Verbs

6.3.6Irregular RE Verbs

6.3.7Être

6.4Imperfect vs Perfect

6.4.1Which One to Use?

6.5Future Tense

6.5.1Regular ER Verbs

6.5.2Regular IR Verbs

6.5.3Regular RE Verbs

6.5.4Immediate future

6.5.5Irregulars (1/2)

6.5.6Irregulars (2/2)

7Advanced Tenses

7.1Conditional Tense

7.1.1Regular ER Verbs

7.1.2Regular IR Verbs

7.1.3Regular IR Verbs

7.1.4Irregulars (1/2)

7.1.5Irregulars (2/2)

7.2Pluperfect Tense

7.2.1Avoir (1/2)

7.2.2Avoir (2/2)

7.2.3Être ER

7.2.4Être IR & RE

7.2.5Irregular Être

7.3Present Subjunctive

7.3.1Regular Verbs (1/2)

7.3.2Regular Verbs (2/2)

7.3.3Irregulars (1/2)

7.3.4Irregulars (2/2)

7.3.5Using the Subjunctive

7.3.6Imperative

8Extra Grammar

8.1The Passive Voice

8.1.1Être (1/6)

8.1.2Être (2/6)

8.1.3Être (3/6)

8.1.4Être (4/6)

8.1.5Être (5/6)

8.1.6Être (6/6)

8.1.7Avoiding the Passive

8.2Pronouns

8.2.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)

8.2.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)

8.2.3Reflexive Pronouns

8.2.4Indefinite Pronouns

8.2.5Emphatic Pronouns

8.2.6Relative Pronouns

8.2.7Ça, Cela, Celui

8.2.8Demonstrative Pronouns

8.2.9Possessive Pronouns

8.3Asking Questions

8.3.1Question Words (1/2)

8.3.2Question Words (2/2)

8.4Nouns

8.4.1The, A

8.4.2Some

8.4.3Masculine

8.4.4Feminine (1/2)

8.4.5Feminine (2/2)

8.4.6Plurals

8.4.7Irregular Plurals

8.5Prepositions

8.5.1Prepositions (1/3)

8.5.2Prepositions (2/3)

8.5.3Prepositions (3/3)

8.5.4Phrases

8.6Adverbs

8.6.1Forming an Adverb

8.6.2Good, Badly, Fast

8.7Quantifiers & Intensifiers

8.7.1A Lot, Enough, Very

8.8Adjectives

8.8.1Agreement (1/3)

8.8.2Agreement (2/3)

8.8.3Agreement (3/3)

8.8.4Position (1/2)

8.8.5Position (2/2)

8.8.6Comparative

8.8.7Superlative

8.8.8Good, Better, Best

8.8.9Demonstrative

8.8.10Indefinite

8.9Negative

8.9.1Negatives (1/2)

8.9.2Negatives (2/2)

8.10Conjunctions

8.10.1To Make Sentences Longer

8.10.2To Add Extra Information

8.11Miscellaneous

8.11.1Abbreviations

Jump to other topics