Prepositions

Question 1

What is a preposition

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

At;to;in

Answer 2

À

Question 3

With

Answer 3

Avec

Question 4

Of;from;about

Answer 4

De

Question 5

En

Answer 5

In;on

Question 6

For; to, in order to

Answer 6

Pour

Question 7

Without

Answer 7

Sans

Question 8

We’re in class this morning

Answer 8

Nous sommes en classe ce matin

Question 9

She’s late/early.

Answer 9

Elle est en retard/en avance

Question 10

Amine prefers to travel by plane

Answer 10

Amine préfère voyager en avion

Question 11

We ski in (the) winter

Answer 11

On skie en hiver

Question 12

When is À used as a preposition?

Answer 12

1. ) 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?
2. ) 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)

Question 13

Which verbs always require à before the indirect object noun

Answer 13

• 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)

Question 14

How is the preposition de/d’ used?

Answer 14

1. ) 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.)
2. ) 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?)
3. ) 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)
4. ) 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)

Question 15

The prepositions à and de must combine with which definite articles to make contractions

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Contractions
•À+la=?
•À+l’=?
•À+le=?
•À+les=?

Answer 16

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)

Question 17

Contractions
•de+la=?
•de+l’=?
•de+le=?
•de+les=?

Answer 17

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)

Question 18

Besides, next to

Answer 18

À côte de

Question 19

To the right of

Answer 19

À droite de

Question 20

To the left of

Answer 20

À gauche de

Question 21

Between

Answer 21

Entre

Question 22

To the east

Answer 22

À l’est de

Question 23

To the west of

Answer 23

À l’ouest de

Question 24

Far from

Answer 24

Loin de

Question 25

Near

Answer 25

Près de

Question 26

Facing, opposite

Answer 26

En face de

Question 27

To the north of

Answer 27

Au nord de

Question 28

To the south of

Answer 28

Au sud de

Question 29

By; through

Answer 29

Par

Question 30

In, inside

Answer 30

Dans

Question 31

Outside of

Answer 31

Hors de

Question 32

On the floor/ground

Answer 32

Par terre

Question 33

Behind

Answer 33

Derrière

Question 34

In front of

Answer 34

Devant

Question 35

Under

Answer 35

Sous

Question 36

On top of

Answer 36

Sur

Question 37

After

Answer 37

Après+noun

*Je vais en ville après le déjeuner (I’m going into town after lunch)

Question 38

Before (in time)

Answer 38

Avant de/d’+infinitive

*Nous dînons avant de regarder le film (We have dinner before watching the movie)

Question 39

In (the time that will elapse until something occurs) can be said how?

Answer 39

Dans+time period

*Chantal arrive dans dix jours. (Chantal arrives in ten days)

Question 40

Since, for (action still) going on in the present

Answer 40

Depuis+point in time or length of time

*J’étudie le français depuis deux ans (I’ve been studying French for two years)

Question 41

In (the length of time it takes to accomplish something)

Answer 41

En+time period

*Il est possible de préparer un repas en une heure (It’s possible to prepare a meal in an hour)

Question 42

Until

Answer 42

Jusqu’a+point in time

*Laurence reste ici jusqu’à mercredi (Laurence is staying here until Wednesday)

Question 43

During; for (duration of an action)

Answer 43

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

Question 44

For (before a time expression, used only in making future plans)

Answer 44

Pour

*Nous projetons d’aller au Brésil pour un mois (We’re planning to go to Brazil for a month)

Question 45

Difference between pendant and pour?

Answer 45

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.

Question 46

Questions words after proposition

Answer 46

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?)

Question 47

How to say “which one(s)?”

Answer 47

• Lequel (M+S)
• Laquelle (F+S)
• Lesquels (M+P)
• Lesquelles (F+P)

*Laquelle est-ce que tu préfères?

Question 48

What happens if lequel follows a preposition when the verb or the following noun calls for one?

Answer 48

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?)