French Prepositions

In this lesson you'll learn the common prepositions in the French language. Online flashcards are included to help you learn the prepositions.

Prepositions

Prepositions act as linking words that show the relationship between other words in the sentence. Prepositions often indicate the location, in either position or time, of a noun or pronoun. English examples include at and before. Prepositions can also be used to connect nouns to other words in a sentence, such as of and about.

In French, prepositions come before the noun they are associated with, and never come at the end of a sentence.

Prepositions are very common words and are worth memorizing. The common French prepositions are listed below, as well as some examples to show how they are used.

French Vocabulary

Simple Prepositions

à	to, at
afin de	in order to
après	after
avant	before
avec	with
chez	at the home of
contre	against
dans	in
de	from, of, about
depuis	since, for
derrière	in back of, behind
devant	in front of
durant	during, while
en	in, on, to
entre	between
envers	toward
jusque	until, up to, even
malgré	despite
par	by, through
parmi	among
pendant	during
pour	for
sans	without
selon	according to
sous	under
suivant	following
sur	on
vers	towards

Compound Prepositions

à côté de	next to, beside
à l'intérieur de	inside of
à travers	across
au dessus de	above, on top of
au sujet de	about, on the subject of
d'après	according to
en dehors de	outside of
en face de	facing, across from
en raison de	because of
hors de	outside of
loin de	far from
près de	near
quant à	as for, regarding

Preposition Contractions

The prepositions á and de have shortened forms when followed by le and les.

	Short Form
á + le	au
á + les	aux
de + le	du
de + les	des

Verbs with à and de

The pronouns à and de when used with certain verbs change the meaning of the verb. The following list shows some examples.

décider à	to decide to
décider de	to decide to
demander à	to ask (for permission
demander de	to ask someone to do something
parler à	to talk to
parler de	to talk about
venir à	to happen to
venir de	to have just (done something)

Phrases

Je vais à Paris pour trois semaines	I'm going to Paris for three weeks.
Je vais en France avec mon ami.	I'm going to France with my friend.
Il vient de Lyon	He's coming from Lyon
Elle est à la banque.	She's at the bank.
Je suis de Nice.	I'm from Nice.
C'est bon à savoir.	That's good to know
C'est facile à faire.	That's easy to do.
L'argent est sur la table.	The money is on the table.
Nous partons dans vingt minutes.	We're leaving in twenty minutes.
Je pars à cinq heures.	I'm leaving at five.
Ils viennent chez nous ce soir.	They're coming to our house this evening.
Il parle de venir la semaine prochaine.	He's talking about coming next week.

Flashcards

Here are some flashcards to help you learn the French prepostions.

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