Grammaire 1: les prépositions de lieu
On étudie!
(a) Preposition of location (les prépositions de lieu) will help you zero in on a location by describing the spatial relationship between people, places and things. To ask where something or someone is, ask the following questions:
-Où est… (Where is….?)
Note: Où versus ou (‘Where’ versus ‘or’) sound exactly the same but mean different things!
Les prépositions de lieu
Below are the most common preposition of location in French. To hear their pronunciation (and see a more extended list), refer to the vocabulary section.
| dans
sur devant près de à côté de à gauche de |
in, inside
on, on top of in front of beside, next to to the left of |
entre
sous derrière loin de à droite de |
between
under behind far from to the right of |
-Où est la classe de français?
(Where is the French class?)
-Elle est dans BR 291, près de la cafétéria.
(It is in BR 289, close to the cafeteria).
(b) IMPORTANT NOTE: Many preposition of location have de as part of the expression (à côté de, près de, loin de, etc.). Remember that the preposition de combines with le to make du (de + le = du) and with les to make des (de + les = des). There is no contraction with l’ or la (de l’, de la).
La salle BR 291 est à côté du labo de langues. [à côté
de + lelabo].(BR 291 is next to the Language lab.)
La bibliothèque est loin des cafés Tim Horton. [loin
de + lescafés](The library is far from Tim Hortons coffee shops.)
