Prepositions

🌉 French Prepositions: The Little Bridges of Language

Imagine you’re building a city with LEGO blocks. The buildings are your nouns and verbs. But how do you connect them? You need tiny bridge pieces! That’s exactly what prepositions do in French—they’re the little bridge words that connect everything together.

🎯 The Big Picture

Think of prepositions like glue words. They stick ideas together and tell us:

• WHERE something is
• WHEN something happens
• HOW something connects to something else

Without prepositions, French would be like a puzzle with missing pieces!

1️⃣ Basic Prepositions: Your Starter Kit

These are your everyday bridge words. You’ll use them constantly!

🎬 See Them in Action

Je vais à Paris.
→ I'm going TO Paris.

Le livre est sur la table.
→ The book is ON the table.

Elle parle avec son ami.
→ She talks WITH her friend.

Le chat est sous le lit.
→ The cat is UNDER the bed.

2️⃣ Prepositions with Places: Your Travel GPS 🗺️

Here’s where French gets a bit tricky—but think of it like a sorting game!

The Magic Rules

graph TD
    A["What kind of place?"] --> B{City?}
    A --> C{Country?}
    B --> D["Use À"]
    C --> E{Feminine or starts with vowel?}
    C --> F{Masculine?}
    C --> G{Plural?}
    E --> H["Use EN"]
    F --> I["Use AU"]
    G --> J["Use AUX"]

🏙️ Cities = Always À

Je suis à Londres.    → I'm in London.
Elle habite à Tokyo.  → She lives in Tokyo.
Nous allons à Rome.   → We're going to Rome.

🌍 Countries = It Depends!

🎪 The “Coming From” Twist

When you’re coming FROM a place, use de (or its friends):

Je viens de Paris.        → I come FROM Paris.
Elle revient de France.   → She returns FROM France.
Il arrive du Japon.       → He arrives FROM Japan.
                          (du = de + le)
Nous venons des États-Unis.
→ We come FROM the United States.
   (des = de + les)

3️⃣ Transportation Prepositions: How Do You Get There? 🚗✈️

Think of it this way: Can you stand up inside it?

The Simple Secret

🚶 Special: On Foot = À pied

Je vais au travail à pied.
→ I go to work ON FOOT.

Elle voyage en avion.
→ She travels BY plane.

Nous allons à l'école en bus.
→ We go to school BY bus.

Il fait le tour à vélo.
→ He goes around BY bike.

🚗 With Cars: Two Options!

en voiture = BY car (the method)
dans la voiture = IN the car (inside it)

4️⃣ Temporal Prepositions: When Does It Happen? ⏰

These prepositions tell us about TIME—like a calendar for your sentences!

The Time Team

🎬 Watch Them Work

Le film commence à 8 heures.
→ The movie starts AT 8 o'clock.

Elle est née en 1995.
→ She was born IN 1995.

Je pars en été.
→ I leave IN summer.

Le train arrive dans 10 minutes.
→ The train arrives IN 10 minutes (from now).

J'ai étudié pendant 3 heures.
→ I studied FOR 3 hours.

J'habite ici depuis 2020.
→ I've lived here SINCE 2020.

⚡ Depuis vs Pendant (The Tricky Twins!)

graph TD
    A["Action still happening?"] -->|YES| B["Use DEPUIS"]
    A -->|NO, it's finished| C[Use PENDANT]
    B --> D["J'attends depuis 1 heure"]
    D --> E["I've been waiting FOR 1 hour #40;still waiting!#41;"]
    C --> F["J'ai attendu pendant 1 heure"]
    F --> G["I waited FOR 1 hour #40;done waiting#41;"]

5️⃣ Preposition + Infinitive: The Action Combo 🎮

Sometimes prepositions team up with infinitive verbs (the “to do” form).

The Dream Teams

🎬 Examples That Stick

Je travaille pour gagner de l'argent.
→ I work (in order) TO earn money.

Lave-toi les mains avant de manger.
→ Wash your hands BEFORE eating.

Après avoir mangé, je fais la vaisselle.
→ AFTER eating, I do the dishes.

Il est parti sans dire au revoir.
→ He left WITHOUT saying goodbye.

6️⃣ Verbs Requiring À: The “À Team” ⚡

Some French verbs are best friends with the preposition à. They ALWAYS need it before another verb or noun!

The Star Players

🎬 Full Sentences

Les enfants apprennent à lire.
→ The children are learning TO read.

Elle commence à parler français.
→ She's starting TO speak French.

Je réussis à finir mon travail.
→ I succeed IN finishing my work.

Il pense à ses vacances.
→ He's thinking ABOUT his vacation.

7️⃣ Verbs Requiring DE: The “De Crew” 🎭

These verbs are best friends with de. They’re inseparable!

The Key Members

🎬 Full Sentences

J'essaie de parler français.
→ I'm trying TO speak French.

Elle a décidé de voyager.
→ She decided TO travel.

Il a oublié de fermer la porte.
→ He forgot TO close the door.

Nous avons besoin de repos.
→ We need (some) rest.

J'ai peur de tomber.
→ I'm afraid OF falling.

🧠 The Ultimate Cheat: À vs De

Can’t remember which one? Here’s a mental shortcut:

graph TD
    A["Which preposition?"] --> B{Direction/Movement TOWARD?}
    A --> C{Origin/Separation FROM?}
    B --> D["Probably À"]
    C --> E["Probably DE"]
    D --> F["aller à, penser à, commencer à"]
    E --> G["venir de, avoir besoin de, arrêter de"]

🎯 Quick Memory Tricks

• À = Approaching, Arriving, Aiming toward
• DE = Departing, Distancing, Doing with something

🏆 You Did It!

Congratulations! You’ve just learned the 7 major preposition categories in French:

1. ✅ Basic prepositions (à, de, avec, sans, pour, dans, sur, sous)
2. ✅ Place prepositions (à, en, au, aux + de rules)
3. ✅ Transportation prepositions (en vs à)
4. ✅ Time prepositions (à, en, dans, pendant, depuis)
5. ✅ Preposition + infinitive combos
6. ✅ Verbs requiring à
7. ✅ Verbs requiring de

🚀 Your Next Step

Practice by describing your day:

• Where you GO (à, en, au)
• HOW you get there (en bus, à pied)
• WHEN things happen (à 8h, pendant 2 heures)
• WHAT you’re trying/learning to do (essayer de, apprendre à)

The more you use these little bridge words, the more natural they’ll feel. You’ve got this! 🎉