Tag Archives: French prepositions
Back to the Basics: French Definite Articles Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on May 22, 2017
Last week, we went over the basics of French articles. This week, we are going to dive more into French definite articles and the ways in which they can change when they are combined with prepositions such as à and de. In French, the preposition à means “to” and the preposition de means “from.” When they are combined with definite articles…
Problematic Prepositions: De (Part Trois) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on May 8, 2017
Last week on the blog, we went over the rules regarding de when used as an expression of quantity. This is typically very confusing for French learners, as it can be difficult to pick out what exactly an expression of quantity is. We’ll delve a bit more into the grammatical nitty-gritty of what constitutes an expression of…
Problematic Prepositions: De (Part Deux) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on May 1, 2017
Last week we explored some of the most common usages of the French preposition de. In addition to a preposition that can express possession, relation, and direction, or to link verbs, de can be used to express quantity, either alone or as part of an expression of quantity. Once again, the rules governing how de changes depends on its usage—and this can…
Problematic Prepositions: De Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Apr 24, 2017
The French preposition de is notorious for giving French learners difficulty at all levels. Why? Because this simple preposition, which generally means “of, from, or about,” can change greatly depending on the word it precedes. De can also be used in many different ways, which also changes the rules regarding its use. Let’s take a look. De is the…
French Language – Prepositions + Countries/Cities Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 26, 2009
Je viens des États-Unis, j’habite en Espagne, mais je vais en France. (I’m from the United States, I live in Spain but, I’m going to France.) This is a simple sentence, some part of which is often used when meeting people in international contexts, but which in French can sometimes seem complicated to English speakers because…