In this newsletter activity, we would like to test your knowledge of prepositions in French, with a particular focus on how you say “in” or “to” when talking about a country. We’d like to you post a comment telling us about a trip you’ve got planned for this year (if you haven’t managed to book anything yet just make it up!).
If you want to say you are going to a feminine country or that you are in a feminine country, you need to use the preposition en:
- j’habite en Angleterre
- en août j’irai en France
- j’aimerais vivre en Australie
It’s the same for masculine countries that begin with a vowel:
- l’année dernière il est allé en Uruguay
- maintenant ma soeur habite en Équateur
- je vais en Argentine
For masculine countries that begin with a consonant, you use au or aux depending on if the country is singular or plural:
- je suis au Royaume-Uni jusqu’à lundi
- mon amie Katelyn vient de déménager aux États-Unis
C’est à vous: try to write one of your own sentences using these guidelines to tell us where you plan to go later this year. Rules for islands, cities and continents are a little different so try to focus on talking about countries for now and don’t forget to check the gender of the country you’re talking about! It can be helpful to learn a few examples so that you can apply the rules to other countries, for example “en mai, j’irai EN France“, “l’année dernière je suis allé(e) AUX Pays-Bas“. Choose some of your favourite countries to help you remember!
Bon courage!