With locations, you will use the preposition à = to/in [a place] and de = from [a place].
See also Using 'à' (to/in) and 'de' (from/of) with cities (prepositions)
However, when followed by the definite articles le or les, these prepositions "contract" with them to form one word.
Look at this summary of the rules:
| Preposition + article | Contraction | Example |
| à + le | au |
Je vais au cinéma. (le cinéma) |
| à + les | aux |
Je vais aux Etats-Unis. (Les Etats-Unis / USA) |
| de + le | du |
Je viens du marché. (le marché /market) |
| de + les | des |
Je viens des Pays-Bas. (Les Pays-Bas / The Netherlands) |
| These don't contract |
||
| à + la | (no contraction) | Je vais à la boulangerie. (the bakery) |
| à + l' | (no contraction) | Je vais à l'hôtel. |
| de + la | (no contraction) | Je viens de la piscine. (the swimming pool) |
| de + l' | (no contraction) | Je viens de l'auberge de jeunesse. (the youth hostel) |
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Elle va au restaurant.
She goes to the restaurant.
Ils viennent du cinéma.
They're coming from the cinema.
Vous allez à l'hôtel.
You're going to the hotel.
Nous allons à la boulangerie.
We are going to the bakery.
Joyeux, joyeux Noël, Aux mille bougies, Qu'enchantent vers le ciel, Les cloches de la nuit.
Happy, happy Christmas! To the thousand candles, That enchant to the heavens, The night bells.
Je viens de la piscine.
I come from the swimming pool.
à
Alain va à la maison.
Alain is going home.Alain is going to the house
Marie est à l'école.
Marie is in school.Marie is at school.
Je vais au bureau
I'm going to the office
de
Ils rentrent du restaurant.
They're coming home from the restaurant.
Q&A
Ron
Kwiziq community member
16/10/17
I am curious about the question; I looked at the lesson and do not find a reference example about «orage» or «orages».
Orage is msculin, singular for thunderstorm and orages is the pluriel. De l'orage would be correct but de les orages --> becomes des orages in contraction.
J'espère que cela vous aiderait.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
16/10/17
un orage
l'orage (as the contraction of le + orage)
de l'orage (as the contraction of de le + orage)
des orages
à l'orage
aux orages
These are all the contractions with articles I can think of.
-- Chris (not a native speaker)
Ron
Kwiziq community member
19/08/17
The lesson is about «À + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des (contractions of articles) -» and does not cover the use of «chez». While your response seems the correct usage of chez to me, I believe that is the reason that it was not marked correct.
Bonne chance,
Terri
Kwiziq community member
19/08/17
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6/11/17
Je vais chez le dentiste/le coiffeur/le docteur/etc. But you would say
Je vais à la boucherie/au cinéma/à la piscine/etc. because they are all impersonal places.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
s
Kwiziq community member
26/01/18
I am not sure I understand, still struggling with French for beginners!
We do say, "Je travaille chez moi". So, "I work at my home."
So, is it home, or house, it is again a location! So, why not "chez epicerie?"
Chris
Kwiziq community member
26/01/18
Je vais chez Alice. -- I go to Alice's place.
You CANNOT say: "je rentre chez la maison. " because "maison" is not a person. But you CAN say: "je rentre chez moi. "
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
s
Kwiziq community member
26/01/18
I think I got it.
valentina
Kwiziq community member
1 August 2017
3 replies
Can I say "Je vais du cinéma" instead of "Je viens du cinéma" ?
Or: "Je viens au restaurant" instead of "Je vais au restaurant" ?
Ron
Kwiziq community member
3/08/17
valentina
Kwiziq community member
3/08/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/08/17
The answer is yes: just like in English, you will use aller and venir depending on where you situate yourself in the context.
I come to the restaurant. (Je viens au restaurant) would mean that the person you're talking to is already at the restaurant and you see yourself as coming towards them for example.
In the case of I go from the cinema, in French you will to add a destination, as always with the verb aller.
For example:
Je vais du cinéma à chez toi. (I'm going from the cinema to your place.)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/06/17
You will never use en in French to express "at", and here are the two possible cases with school:
Je suis à l'école. I am at school.
Je suis dans l'école. I am in the school.
See our lesson on en versus dans with locations:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/prepositions-locations-dans-versus-en
Bonne journée !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/04/17
It applies mainly to the verbs "venir" (to come), "aller" (to go) and "être" (to be), just like in English, and yes you will use either "à" to express "to/in", and "de" to express "from".
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
27/12/16
Bonnes Fêtes et à bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
2/12/16
I've listened to the sentence you're referring to, and it is pronounced [va au]", albeit pretty fast (French native way!), so I understand the confusion here.
You are correct that we wouldn't say [v-au] in French :)
I've therefore decided to update our audio file.
Please let me know if it's better, or I will look into it again :)
Merci et à bientôt !
Judy
Kwiziq community member
15/10/16
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
16/10/16
You use "de" when the food is the main ingredient, like jus de tomate.
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
6/01/16
Good question. "Devant de la table" is a very literal translation of "in front of the table," and French just doesn't work that way. Devant means "in front of" - the idea of "of" is part of it, so it must be followed immediately by la table. This is also the case for its antonym: derrière la table.
Michael
Kwiziq community member
17 October 2017
3 replies
Plural Orages
Bonjour RON. I referenced this lesson because I was looking for an answer for the text in the Week 78 B1 writing challenge 'Weather Forcast" 'after a rough night which will likely be punctuated by thunderstorms' = après une nuit agitée qui devrait être ponctuée d’orages,'. I thought it might be from the ponctuée but I think its followed by par not de, I don't see any adjectives or negative sentences.
Michael
Kwiziq community member
17 October 2017
17/10/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
17 October 2017
17/10/17
So I ran the English phrase through Collins-Robert online translator as well as google translate. Here are the results, in order:
1) après une nuit agitée qui va probablement être ponctuée d’orages
2) après une nuit difficile qui sera probablement ponctuée par des orages
I do not typically use online translation except to get a sense in phrase that I am totally unfamiliar with. One can see from these two phrases the variations in the sense of the phrase as well as the point in question: d'orages, par des orages.
I agree with your observation, there is no negation so to me the d'orages doesn't fit. I like the second though, but I am still uncertain if this would be a correct reflection of the translation.
Of course, it is possible that both translations are acceptable.
Bonne chance et merci.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
17 October 2017
17/10/17
1) Une nuit ponctuée par des orages
2) Une nuit ponctueée d'orages.
Greetings, -- Chris (not a native speaker).