Prepositions of Place in French

Overview

Prepositions of place tell you where something or someone is located. In French, the prépositions de lieu are among the first words you need to describe your surroundings, give directions, or talk about where you live and work.

At the A1 level, you will encounter the most common spatial prepositions: à (at/to), de (from), dans (in/inside), sur (on), sous (under), devant (in front of), derrière (behind), entre (between), and the uniquely French chez (at someone's place). These small words appear in almost every conversation.

While many of these prepositions have direct English equivalents, some do not translate one-to-one. The preposition à can mean "at," "to," or "in" depending on context, and chez has no single English equivalent — it expresses being at someone's home or place of business.

How It Works

Preposition	Meaning	Example
à	at, to, in	à Paris, à l'école
de	from, of	de Lyon, de la gare
dans	in, inside	dans la maison
sur	on, on top of	sur la table
sous	under, beneath	sous le lit
devant	in front of	devant l'école
derrière	behind	derrière la porte
entre	between	entre la banque et la poste
chez	at someone's place	chez Marie, chez moi
près de	near	près de la gare
loin de	far from	loin du centre
à côté de	next to	à côté de la pharmacie
en face de	across from	en face du parc

Key points:

• À contracts with le to form au and with les to form aux: au cinéma, aux toilettes.
• De contracts with le to form du and with les to form des: près du parc, loin des magasins.
• Chez is followed by a person's name or a stressed pronoun: chez Pierre, chez nous.
• Dans implies being physically inside something, while à is more general for location.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je suis à Paris.	I am in Paris.	à + city
Le chat est sur la table.	The cat is on the table.	Physical position
Il est chez Marie.	He is at Marie's place.	Uniquely French preposition
Le livre est dans le sac.	The book is in the bag.	Inside a container
Les clés sont sous le tapis.	The keys are under the mat.	Beneath something
La boulangerie est devant la banque.	The bakery is in front of the bank.	Relative position
Le jardin est derrière la maison.	The garden is behind the house.	Opposite of devant
La pharmacie est entre la poste et le café.	The pharmacy is between the post office and the cafe.	Between two places
J'habite près de la gare.	I live near the station.	Proximity
Le supermarché est à côté de l'école.	The supermarket is next to the school.	Adjacent
Tu vas chez le médecin?	Are you going to the doctor's?	chez + profession
Il y a un chat sous le lit.	There is a cat under the bed.	Common household sentence

Common Mistakes

Confusing "dans" and "à"

• Wrong: Je suis dans Paris.
• Right: Je suis à Paris.
• Why: For cities, use à. Use dans for physical containment: dans la voiture (in the car), dans la boîte (in the box).

Forgetting contractions with à and de

• Wrong: Je vais à le cinéma.
• Right: Je vais au cinéma.
• Why: The prepositions à and de must contract with le and les. See Contractions for full details.

Using "à" instead of "chez" for people

• Wrong: Je vais à Marie.
• Right: Je vais chez Marie.
• Why: When going to a person's place, always use chez, not à.

Mixing up "devant" and "avant"

• Wrong: La voiture est avant la maison.
• Right: La voiture est devant la maison.
• Why: Devant is for physical space (in front of). Avant is for time (before).

Practice Tips

1. Describe your room or desk using as many prepositions as possible: Le téléphone est sur le bureau, les chaussures sont sous le lit, le sac est derrière la chaise...
2. When giving or following directions in French, focus on à côté de, en face de, devant, and derrière — these are the most practical for real-life navigation.
3. Use chez in daily sentences: Je rentre chez moi (I'm going home), On mange chez toi? (Shall we eat at your place?).

Related Concepts

• Prepositions with Countries — how prepositions change with geographical names
• The Pronoun Y — replaces à + place in sentences