{"id":52,"date":"2009-01-26T08:22:37","date_gmt":"2009-01-26T12:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=52"},"modified":"2009-01-26T08:22:37","modified_gmt":"2009-01-26T12:22:37","slug":"prepositions-countriescities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/prepositions-countriescities\/","title":{"rendered":"French Language – Prepositions + Countries\/Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Je viens des \u00c9tats-Unis, j’habite en Espagne, mais je vais en France.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0(I’m from the United States, I live in Spain but, I’m going to France.) \u00a0This 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 of the grammar rules regarding prepositions (in, to, from) and the confusion about how countries can be either masculine or feminine and some plural. \u00a0In this article, I’ll try to shed some light on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
J’habite <\/em><\/strong>+<\/td>\n(masculine country) au<\/span><\/em><\/strong> Portugal.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(feminine country) <\/em><\/strong>en<\/span><\/em><\/strong> France.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(country that begins with a vowel) en I<\/span><\/em><\/strong>talie.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(plural country) aux<\/span> \u00c9tats-Unis.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(city) \u00e0<\/span> Londres.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Je vais <\/em><\/strong>+<\/td>\n(masculine country) au<\/span> Portugal.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(feminine country) en<\/span> France.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(country that begins with a vowel) en I<\/span>talie.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(plural country) aux <\/span>\u00c9tats-Unis.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(city) \u00e0<\/span> Londres.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Je viens <\/em><\/strong>+<\/td>\n(masculine country) du<\/span> Portugal.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(feminine country) de<\/span> France.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(country that begins with a vowel) d’I<\/span>talie.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(plural country) des <\/span>\u00c9tats-Unis.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(city) de<\/span> Londres.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n(city that begins with a vowel) d’A<\/span>msterdam.<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Now, here’s a list of some countries in columns according to gender\/plurality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
la France<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Portugal<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles \u00c9tats-Unis<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la Chine<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Br\u00e9sil<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Pays-Bas <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la Gr\u00e8ce <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Togo<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Fidji<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la Russie<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle S\u00e9n\u00e9gal<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles \u00c9mirats Arabes Unis<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la Suisse<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Maroc<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Philippines<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l’Allemagne <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nl’Afghanistan<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Bahamas<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l’Italie <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0le Mexique<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles \u00c9tats F\u00e9d\u00e9r\u00e9s de Micron\u00e9sie<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l’Argentine<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Belize<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Salomon<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l’Espagne <\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nle Cambodge<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\nles Maldives<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As you may have noticed above, the rule for countries is: almost all countries that end in -e<\/strong> are considered to be feminine <\/strong>for grammatical purposes.\u00a0 The exceptions are:
\nle Mexique
\nle Belize
\nle Cambodge
\nle Mozambique
\nle Za\u00efre
\nle Zimbabwe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The same rules for countries apply to continents.\u00a0 In fact, all continents end in -e<\/em> and are considered to be feminine for grammatical purposes.\u00a0 (L’Asie, l’Am\u00e9rique du Nord, l’Am\u00e9rique du Sud, l’Afrique, l’Antarctique, l’Australie, l’Europe<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Vous \u00eates d’o\u00f9?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Where are you from?)
\nVous habitez o\u00f9?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Where do you live?)<\/p>\n

I encourage all of you to answer these two questions in a comment…not only will you be able to practice your French, but it would be interesting to find out about the people who read this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Je viens des \u00c9tats-Unis, j’habite en Espagne, mais je vais en France.\u00a0\u00a0(I’m from the United States, I live in Spain but, I’m going to France.) \u00a0This 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…<\/p>\n

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