The 100 Most Common French Prepositions

French prepositions are the little invariable grammatical words that link two words (or groups of words) to create a logical connection. Since you just start learning French, you first need to learn countries’ gender in french, secondly french prepositions for countries and cities, and lastly geographical prepositions in French.

This article will cover all your major concerns about French prepositions so that you can start using them in your everyday life ASAP.

So, let me provide you with the

Table of Contents

French prepositions list

On this French preposition list, you will find the most common ones.

	French Prepositions	English Meanings
1	de	of / from
2	des,	some
3	à	To
4	dans,	in,
5	pour,	for,
6	par,	by,
7	avec,	with,
8	contre,	against, vs,
9	vers,	towards,
10	en,	in,
11	avant,	before,
12	après,	after,
13	sans,	without,
14	sous	under
15	chez,	at the house of,
16	concernant,	regarding,
17	quant à	as for
18	depuis,	since,
19	jusque	until
20	devant,	before,
21	derrière,	behind,
22	par,	by,
23	Malgré	Despite
24	outre,	besides,
25	envers,	towards,
26	durant	during
27	selon	according to
28	parmi	among
29	nonobstant,	notwithstanding,
30	en dépit de	despite
31	entre	Between
32	pour,	for,
33	sauf,	except,
34	au moyen de	by means of
35	pendant,	during,
36	sans,	without,
37	vers	towards
38	sous,	under,
39	sur	on
40	suivant,	next,
41	à cause de,	because of,
42	à la merci de,	at the mercy of,
43	à côté de	to the side of,
44	afin de,	in order to,
45	au-dehors de	outside,
46	à l’intérieur	inside
47	à défaut de ,	in the absence of,
48	à force de,	by dint of,
49	à l’instar de,	like,
50	au lieu de,	instead of,
51	en deçà de,	under,
52	à la faveur de,	in the favor of,
53	à I ‘encontre de,	against,
54	à l’exception de,	with the exception of,
55	à l’insu de,	unbeknownst to,
56	vers	towards
57	avant,	before,
58	à travers,	through,
59	avec,	with,
60	en bas de,	below,
61	par ricochet	indirectly
62	au-dessus de,	above,
63	environ / aux environs de,	around
64	de manière à,	in such a way that,
65	de façon à	so that
66	entre,	between, among,
67	en outre	in addition
68	hors de,	out of,
69	au-dessous de,	above
70	surtout	especially
71	près de,	near,
72	au prix de,	at the price of,
73	aux alentours de,	around,
74	autour de	around
75	loin de,	far from,
76	par rapport à ,	compared to ,
77	en faveur de,	in favor of,
78	de peur que,	for fear that
79	du côté de	by the side of
80	en dehors de,	apart from,
81	en face de,	in front of,
82	en guise de,	as a,
83	par suite de,	as a result of,
84	proche de,	close to,
85	quitte à,	At the risk of
86	vis-à-vis de…	with respect to…
87	à moins que,	unless,
88	au fait,	by the way,
89	de sorte que,	so that,
90	A condition que,	On condition that,
91	Pour que	So that
92	Dès-que	As soon as
93	en fait,	in fact,
94	de plus	in addition
95	De surcroit	In addition
96	entre autres,	among others,
97	en plus	in addition,
98	en tout cas	anyway, in any case
99	en	in,
100	d’après	According to

If you want to learn more about prepositions, click here.

In case you are wondering,

What Are French prepositions for countries

Before using French prepositions for countries, you need to know the country’s gender (masculine / feminine) and sometimes number (Singular or plural). There are 3 French prepositions for countries you need to know: The << en >>, the << au >> and the << aux >>.

So, let’s talk about the

1. The << En > Preposition For Feminin Countries

Syntax: EN + Feminin Country / Continent

Ex : Elle habite en Allemagne. = She lives in Germany

Il voyage en Grèce et en Pologne. = He travels to Greece and Poland.

Elle travaille en France. = she works in France.

Nous allons en Asie. = We are going/go to Asia.

2. The << au>> Prepositions For Masculine Countries

You can use << au >> in front of countries that accept << Le >> and << Un >> as articles. These countries are generally those that are not ended with << e >> like le Nigeria, le Togo, le Japon, etc.

Here is the,

Syntax: au + Masculine country

Ex : Je suis au Danemark = I am in Danemark

Je vais au Mexique = I am going to Mexico

Il est basé au Togo = He is based in Togo

Nous

3. The << Aux >> Preposition For Countries With Plural Names

You use the << aux >> prepositions for countries with plural names like Les Etats Unis d’Amérique, Les Pays Bas, les Seychelles, les Emirats Arabes Unis, les Emirats Arabes Unis, les Philippines, les îles Féroé etc

Ex: J’habite aux Etat Unis = I live in the US

Remi travaille aux Seychelles

Papa va aux Emirats Arabes Unis

The << De >> Prepositions means from

<< De >> means from and we use it to express the origin of something.

Ex: L’avion viens de Berlin. = The plane is coming from Berlin

Mes amis sont de Paris = My friends are from Paris

I know what you are thinking,

French Prepositions Of Place: What Are They?

French prepositions of place include à, au, du, de, dans, sur etc. The prepositions “à and de” are probably the most common in French.

1. The << à >> preposition means in, at, to etc.

We use the << à >> preposition of place in French in front of a city, town, or state under a federal republic.

Ex: J’habite à New York = I live in New York

Ma fille travaille à Paris = My daughter works in Paris. For you to use the << à >> preposition in front of a particular place in a town, the location’s gender must be feminine like La Poste, La Pharmacie, etc

Ex: Je suis à la poste = I am at the post office.

Je vais à la pharmacie = I am going to the Pharmacy

2. The << De >> Prepositions becomes

Du when it refers to a location in a city that is masculine (le restaurant, le cinéma, etc). Du means “de le”, but we never say “de le” in French. We replace it by DU

Ex: Je viens du restaurant = I am coming from the restaurant (because restaurant is masculine)

de la when it refers to a location in a city that is feminine (la mosquée, la rivière, la maison)

Ex: Je viens de la pharmacie = I am coming from the pharmacy

De L’ when it refers to a place with a vowel initial (Here it does not matter whether it is masculine or feminine)

Ex: Je viens de l’église = I am coming from church (Eglise is feminine)

3. The << Dans >> Preposition

We use << Dans >> to say that something / someone is inside a place

Syntax: Dans + Article + Place

Ex: Je suis dans le salon = I am in the sitting room. However, don’t say “Je suis dans le Canada” to say “I am in Canada”. I am in Canada is ” je suis au Canada”

Issiak est dans la chambre = Issiak is inside the room

Paul est dans le supermarché = Paul is inside the supermarket

4. The << Sur >> preposition

We use Sur to say that something or someone is on top of or on the surface of something else

Syntax: sur + article + Place

Ex: J’ai mis le manteau sur la chaise = I put the jacket on the chair

Je pose le roman sur l’étagère = I put the novel on the shelves

5. The << Chez >> prepositions

We use the Chez french preposition to say that someone/something is at someone else’ house

Syntax = chez + A noun / name

Ex : Je suis chez Jean = I am at John’s place

Paul est chez ses amis = Paul is at his friend’s place

Nous sommes chez nous = We are at home

6. The << Contre >> Prepositions to say against

Syntax = contre + article + noun

Ex: J’ai placé le lit contre le mur = I placed the bed against the wall

Conclusion

To master the French prepositions well, you need to know their meanings in English and practice them over and over again. Also, it is required that you know the gender of the place you are referring to first, if not, you will end up using the wrong preposition.