French For Football/Grammar/Prepositions

À and De The preposition à can indicate a destination, a location, a characteristic, measurement, a point in time, purpose, and several other things which will be covered later. When le follows à, the à and le combine into au. Similarly, à and les combine into aux. The preposition de can indicate an origin, contents, possession, cause, manner, and several other things which will be covered later. When le follows de, the de and le combine into du. Similarly, de and les combine into des. Geography prepositions Cities French native speaker à is used to say in, at, to Je vais à Paris. - I'm going to Paris de is used to say from. Je reviens de Paris. - I return from Paris. cities that have articles as part of their names contract with the preposition if the city is masculine. le Caire - Je vais au Caire. - Je reviens du Caire. le Havre - Je vais au Havre. - Je reviens du Havre. la Nouvelle-Orléans - Je vais à la Nouvelle-Orléans. - Je reviens de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Feminine regions, countries, and continents Most geographical areas are feminine Every French geographical area that ends in -e is feminine, with one or two exceptions. Every continent is feminine. en is used to say in, at, to for all feminine geographical areas except cities Je vais en France. - I go to France. de is used to say from for all feminine geographical areas except cities Je reviens de France. - I return from France. de is contracted to d when followed by a vowel. Je vais en Espagne. - Je reviens d’Espagne. Masculine regions all regions that do not end in a silent e are masculine Audio : French native speaker dans le is used to say in, at, to for most masculine regions, provinces, and states Je vais dans le Limousin. - I'm going to Limousin. du, a contraction of de + le, is used to say from for most regions, provinces, and states Je reviens du Limousin. - I return from Limousin. If a region is thought of or considered as its own sovereign state, au is used instead of dans le Je vais au Québec. - Je reviens du Québec. (Note: This is for the province of Québec. For the city of Québec, Je vais à Québec should be used. - Je reviens de Québec.) Je vais au Texas. - Je reviens du Texas. Masculine countries starting with a consonant all countries that do not end in a silent e are masculine le Cambodge, le Mexique, le Zimbabwe, and le Mozambique are masculine au is used to say in, at, to for masculine countries beginning with a consonant Je vais au Portugal. - I'm going to Portugal. du is used to say from for masculine countries beginning with a consonant Je reviens du Portugal. - I return from Portugal. Plural countries Audio : French native speaker aux, a contraction of à + les, is used to say in, to, as if a plural article is part of the name of a country Je vais aux États-Unis. - I'm going to the United States. (pronounced aytahzoohnee) des, a contraction of de + les, is used to say from if a plural article is part of the name of a country Je reviens des États-Unis. - I return from the United States. Masculine countries starting with a vowel en is used to say in, at, to for all masculine countries beginning with a vowel Je vais en Israël. - I'm going to''' Israel.d is used to say from for all masculine countries beginning with a vowel Je reviens d’Israël. - I return from' Israel. Check for understanding Are all French countries ending in e feminine? What geographical areas use the preposition dans le''? What prepositions do countries beginning with vowels use? What prepositions does the city of Quebec use? ...the province of Quebec? Common prepositions PrepostionTranslationExampleNotesà1. to2. at3. of4. inJe vais au match. -- I am going to the match.Je pars à cinq heures. -- I am leaving at fiveC'est un ami à moi. -- This is a friend of mine.C'est la voiture à John. -- This is John's car.à côté denext to, besides Le tir passe à côté du but. -- The shot passes wide of the goal. (du = de le)à l'intérieur deinside La balle doit rester à l'intérieur de l'aire de jeu. -- The ball must stay inside the playing area. Alternative: dedans (rarely used as a preposition)afin dein order to Le match est arrêté afin d'avertir ou d'expulser un joueur. -- The match is stopped in order to caution or dismiss a player.afin que so that Il est prêté à Lorient afin qu'il puisse enchaîner les matchs en Ligue 1. -- He was loaned to Lorient so that he could continue playing in Ligue 1.aprèsaftercinq minutes après le repos—five minutes after the break Also an adverb.avantbefore, in front avant le début du match—before the start of the match avecwith Il va rester avec l'équipe. -- He is going to stay with the team. chezat the home of Ils sont toujours invaincus chez eux. -- They are still unbeaten at home. contre against un but contre son camp—an own goal dansin une poussette dans le dos—a small push in the back Synonym: ende1. of, from2. about la méforme de son meilleur joueur—the unfitness of his best playerAlso an indefinite article.Contractions: du, desIPA: /də/depuissince invaincu depuis le début de la saison—unbeaten since the start of the season derrièrebehind un meneur de jeu posté derrière deux attaquants—a playmaker posted behind two forwards dèsfrom dès que possible—as soon as possible devantin front of un cafouillage devant le but—a scramble in front of the goal enin un match en moins—a match in hand Also a pronoun.entrebetween une mésentente entre le gardien et son défenseur—a misunderstanding between the goalkeeper and his defender hors outside, out of hors de position—out of position jusqu'à until Il restera jusqu'à la fin de la saison. -- He will stay until the end of the season. loin defar from Le match est loin d'être fini. -- The match is far from over. malgrédespite l'équipe reste zen malgré tout—the team remains calm in spite of everything par1. through2. by, for un ballon cafouillé par la défense—a ball bungled by the defence parmiamong il est parmi les dix candidats—he is among the ten contenders à partir defrom écoutez l'émission ce soir à partir de 20h—hear the broadcast this evening starting at 8 p.m. pendant during les commentaires pendant le match—the commentary during the match près denear on est tout près de l'égalisation—we are so close to the equaliser pourfor il est titularisé pour la première fois—he is picked for the first time sanswithout il capte le ballon sans difficulté—he catches the ball without difficulty saufexcept tout le monde l'a vu sauf l'arbitre—everyone saw it except the referee selon according to selon le quotidien britannique, le Daily Mail—according to the British daily paper, The Daily Mail sousunder sous l’impulsion de leur capitaine—spurred on by their captain sur1. on2. upon3. on top of4. above5. out of6. sept sur dix (seven out of ten) sur le papier, c'est la meilleure équipe—on paper, it's the better team Synonyms: au-dessus de (above)Antonyms: sous (below, under), dessous, au-dessous-de (below)verstowards un grand pas vers la qualification—a big step towards qualification vis-à-vis deopposite, in relation to il porte une responsabilité vis-à-vis de l'équipe—he carries a responsibility in relation to the team voicihere is, here are voici le but de l'année—here is the goal of the year voilàthere is, there are voilà pourquoi nous avons perdu—that is why we lost Acknowledgements This page is based on original text from French/Grammar/Prepositions dated 21 January 2010.