J'habite à Toronto dans Canada.
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Christian B.Kwiziq community member
J'habite à Toronto dans Canada.
Is dans correct and does it matter if city or country goes first?
This question relates to:French lesson "J'habite à + [ville] = I live in + [city] in French"
Asked 8 years ago
David T.Kwiziq community member
This is a really sticky one. Part of the problem is learning the gender of all the world's countries. But there are some tricks.
With some exceptions (le Belize, le Cambodge, le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Zaïre, le Zimbabwe) all countries that end in "e" are feminine. The rest are masculine.
If a country is masculine and starts with a consonant, use:
au (to or in) du (from
If a country is masculine and starts with a vowel, use:
en (to or in) d' (from)
If a country is feminine, use:
en (to or in) de / d' (from)
If a country is plural, use:
aux (to or in) des (from)
You can forget "dans" with a country. And the city and country can come in either order, as long as the prepositions are correct. Good luck!
Michele L.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
So the correct form would be J'habite à Toronto au Canada? And J'habite au Canada à Toronto would also be correct?
David T.Kwiziq community member
Yes. But with a city like Toronto or New York (where I live) there's really no need to say the country. So you're off the hook!
Bonus tip: if you're a native of a city or country, you can use the adjective form of that country or city plus "de souche."
"Je suis New Yorkais de souche."
"Je suis français de souche."
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