#Them prepo how to
#Them prepo plus

It can also be used to talk about characteristics “within” a group or a figurative grouping (such as someone’s work).Ĭhez les adolescents, il y a un intérêt à prendre plus de responsabilités. I’ll see you at John’s place later, right? It’s mainly used to talk about something at someone’s “place,” like referring to someone’s home or business as their “place” in English. ChezĬhez doesn’t have a single direct translation in English. *Chez is not a general translation for “at” it’s only used in special circumstances (see below). French Preposition English Equivalent(s) Notes à to (at/in/to) used like “at/in” with city names (Je suis à Paris) or “to” a city name if moving toward it (Je vais à Paris) à côté de next to au-dessous beneath, below au-dessus above autour de around chez at (among, with) most often used to describe a place owned by someone dans in (on) used for modes of transport, like buses, trains, metros de from derrière behind devant in front of en in used for feminine country names en face de in front of, facing loin de far from parmi among sous under sur on vers toward In the chart below, English equivalents are listed with the most common or “core” translation first and the less common uses in parentheses.

Prepositions of Place and MovementĪs mentioned above, a one-to-one comparison of prepositions can be tricky. I’ll have the project completed for/by the fifth of January. Je terminerai le projet pour le 5 janvier. I’ll be in Paris for two months, and then I’ll go back to Nice. Je suis à Paris pour deux mois, puis je repartirai à Nice. It can also be used to talk about deadlines. Unlike pendant, pour can only be used for timeframes in the present or future. I took dance classes for (a duration of) two years. J’ai pris des cours de danse pendant deux ans. Both pendant and pour are used for definitive durations of time with set endpoints. Pendant is used to talk about actions that happened during a specific timeframe in the past, present, or future. The bakery has sold its famous croissants since 1939. La boulangerie vend ses célèbres croissants depuis 1939. In French-speaking countries you’ll often see depuis before a year that a business was founded. French Preposition English Equivalent(s) avant before après after vers around, towards depuis since only for things happening since a certain date pendant for, during similar to “for the/a duration of” pour for (in order to, as for) Pour, Pendant, and Depuisĭepuis is used with the present tense for actions that began in the past and are continuing today.

Sign up for Lingvist’s online French course to practice prepositions in exercises tailored to your level! Prepositions of Timeįrench prepositions provide more specifics than English as to whether an action/event has been completed and whether the duration is set or flexible.

Passively looking over a table is helpful as a start, but you won’t commit these to memory without giving yourself opportunities to recall them and puzzle through which is appropriate in a certain situation. However, the key to remembering these differences is in actively using them in sentences. To get started, take a look at a few key groups of prepositions below, noting how their usage differs from English. Don’t worry – it will feel more natural once you’ve had more exposure to the language! The difference between these two doesn’t necessarily change the meaning – someone is still riding the train – it’s just a difference of convention. For example, in French you say that someone is “in” a train, while in English you say that you’re “on” one. Usually, prepositions answer the questions “where?” and “which one?” Beware of Direct TranslationĪlthough French allows you to express the same types of spatial (e.g., beneath, above) and temporal (e.g., before, after) relations between objects, the correlations between prepositions is not one to one.Ĭertain French prepositions also do double duty (correlating to multiple English prepositions) and vice versa. Prepositional phrases can consist of multiple words, which, when combined, function as a preposition does. Common prepositions in English are: at, to, from, for, with, into, between, beside, under, and within. Prepositions describe movement, give us details on relations between objects, and provide a description of something/someone based on their location.

#Them prepo how to

Sur la table (“on the table”) but dans le train (“on the train”)? You may have noticed that French prepositions don’t translate directly, and, furthermore, there seem to be specific prepositions for different nouns! Read on to get a handle on the usual translations of prepositions and how to use some of the most common ones.