Prepositions Flashcards
What is a preposition
A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence, clause, or phrase. In general, prepositions are followed by verb infinitives, nouns, or pronouns.
At;to;in
À
With
Avec
Of;from;about
De
En
In;on
For; to, in order to
Pour
Without
Sans
We’re in class this morning
Nous sommes en classe ce matin
She’s late/early.
Elle est en retard/en avance
Amine prefers to travel by plane
Amine préfère voyager en avion
We ski in (the) winter
On skie en hiver
When is À used as a preposition?
- ) To indicate location or destination (at, in, or to), and with the names of most cities
* J’habite à Bruxelles (I live in Brussels)
* Elles vont à la banque. (They are going to the bank)
* Est-ce que Pierre est à la maison? - ) Meaning to or for, before and indirect object noun (usually a person or pet)
* Tu donnes le pull à Jacques. (You give the sweater to Jacques.)
* Il demande le numéro à Chantel (He asks Chantal for the number)
* Attends! Nous donnons à manger à Fido (Wait up! We’re feeding Fido)
Which verbs always require à before the indirect object noun
- demander à (to ask for)
- donner à (to give to)
- montrer à (to show to)
- parler à (to speak to)
- répondre à (to answer (to)
- téléphoner à (to phone, to call)
How is the preposition de/d’ used?
- ) To indicate where someone or something comes from
* Est-ce que Salim est de Marseille? (Is Salim from Marseille?)
* Nous arrivons d’Orléans. (We’re coming from Orléans.) - ) To express possession and the concept of belonging to or being a part of something (there are no possessive apostrophes in French.
* Voici la calise de Mme Leblanc. (Here’s Mme Leblanc’s suitcase)
* Tu travailles à la librairie de l’université? (Do you work at the university bookstore?) - ) When used with verb parler to mean about
* De quoi parlez-vous? (What are you talking about?)
* On parle de la nouvelle épicerie. (We’re talking about the new grocery store) - ) When used as a descriptive phase before a noun
* Le professeur de chimie (The chemistry professor)
* la vie d’étudiant (The student life)
* Le livre de chinois (the chinese book)
* Le livre d’histoire (the history book)
The prepositions à and de must combine with which definite articles to make contractions
The prepositions à and de must combine with the definite articles le and les (both m. and f. plural), forming the contractions below. La and l’ (both m. and f.) do not combine with à and de.
Contractions •À+la=? •À+l’=? •À+le=? •À+les=?
Contractions
•À+la=à la
*Camille va à la boulangerie (Camille is going to the bakery)
•À+l’=à l’
*Elle arrive à l’école. (She arrives at school)
•À+le=au
*Elle va au cinéma (She’s going to the movies)
•À+les=aux
*Elle téléphone aux amis de Nicole. (She’s phoning Nicole’s friends)
Contractions •de+la=? •de+l’=? •de+le=? •de+les=?
Contractions
•de+la=de la
*Bernard arrive de la banque (bernard is coming from the bank)
•de+l’=de l’
*Il rentre de’université (He comes back from the university)
•de+le=du
*Il rentre du travail (He comes home from work)
•de+les=des
*Il rentre des champs (He comes in from the fields)
Besides, next to
À côte de
To the right of
À droite de
To the left of
À gauche de
Between
Entre
To the east
À l’est de
To the west of
À l’ouest de
Far from
Loin de
Near
Près de
Facing, opposite
En face de
To the north of
Au nord de
To the south of
Au sud de
By; through
Par
In, inside
Dans
Outside of
Hors de
On the floor/ground
Par terre
Behind
Derrière
In front of
Devant
Under
Sous
On top of
Sur
After
Après+noun
*Je vais en ville après le déjeuner (I’m going into town after lunch)
Before (in time)
Avant de/d’+infinitive
*Nous dînons avant de regarder le film (We have dinner before watching the movie)
In (the time that will elapse until something occurs) can be said how?
Dans+time period
*Chantal arrive dans dix jours. (Chantal arrives in ten days)
Since, for (action still) going on in the present
Depuis+point in time or length of time
*J’étudie le français depuis deux ans (I’ve been studying French for two years)
In (the length of time it takes to accomplish something)
En+time period
*Il est possible de préparer un repas en une heure (It’s possible to prepare a meal in an hour)
Until
Jusqu’a+point in time
*Laurence reste ici jusqu’à mercredi (Laurence is staying here until Wednesday)
During; for (duration of an action)
Pendant+time period
*Pendant l’année scolaire, René travaille dur. (During the school year, René
Pendant can very often be omitted before the expression of duration.
*Je travaille quatre heures aujourd’hui. (Im working (for) fours hours today
For (before a time expression, used only in making future plans)
Pour
*Nous projetons d’aller au Brésil pour un mois (We’re planning to go to Brazil for a month)
Difference between pendant and pour?
Do not confuse pendant duration with pour duration. Pendant (for) is the preposition used to express length of time or duration, while pour (for) is used only to express future plans.
Questions words after proposition
After a preposition, qui is used to refer to people, and quoi (not que) is used to refer to things. Use either est-ce que or inversion.
- Qui appelles-tu? (Whom are you calling?)
- À qui est-ce que tu téléphones? (Whom are you phoning?)
- De quoi parlez-vous? (What are you talking about?)
How to say “which one(s)?”
- Lequel (M+S)
- Laquelle (F+S)
- Lesquels (M+P)
- Lesquelles (F+P)
*Laquelle est-ce que tu préfères?
What happens if lequel follows a preposition when the verb or the following noun calls for one?
De and à contract with the syllables le and les to make •Duquel •Desquel(le)s •Auquel •Auxquel(le)s
Laquelle does not contract (de laquelle, à laquelle).
*Dans laquelle joue-t-il? (Which one is he acting in?)
