40 important French prepositions of place, relation + time to learn
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Prepositions are essential in many languages. Just like articles, if you speak French without prepositions, you’ll express yourself like Tarzan.
While this can be hilarious for your francophone friends, we can’t decently offer French lessons and allow you to parler français, jungle style.
Knowing French prepositions will allow you to:
- Describe movement
- Explain relations between objects
- Mention the location of someone/something
- And, last but not least, speak like a civilized person (no offense, Tarzan)
So, keep reading to learn everything — or almost — about the great, the superb, the amazing, French prepositions!
What are prepositions in grammar?
Prepositions are short words that link the elements of a sentence. In other words, they serve to indicate the relationships between the main words.
Some prépositions are short and simple, such as à, chez, etc. Others are a bit more complex, for example près de, d’après, etc. These are called prepositional phrases.
We’ll come back to them in detail below.
As for many aspects of learning a foreign language, literal translation from English does not work. If you don’t believe me, check out this hilarious video!
Jokes aside, the only way to learn French prepositions is… well… to learn them by heart, read a lot in French, watch a lot of French movies and TV shows — the perfect binging excuse — and the golden rule for anything: practice, practice, practice.
The complete French prepositions list
If you’ve been looking partout for the ultimate French prepositions list, search no more! We’ve split les prépositions by type to help you find the one you need. De rien !
French prepositions of place or location
Les prépositions de lieu, or French prepositions of place, indicate the location of something or someone in relation to something or someone else.
In short, they’re like a language map!
I still remember how I learned English prepositions of place, and to this day, this song is stuck in my head: “Where is the cat, where is the cat, where where where, where is the cat? The cat is on the mat, the mat is in the kitchen, the kitchen is in the house, everything in its place.”
You got the idea!
| Preposition | Translation | Type | Example sentence | Translation |
| À | At, in | Preposition | J’habite à Marseille. | I live in Marseille. |
| Chez | At the home/office/store of | Preposition | Je vais chez mon copain. | I go to my friend's house. |
| Dans | In | Preposition | Il y a du fromage dans le frigo. | There is cheese in the fridge. |
| Derrière | In back of, behind | Preposition | Il se cache derrière la maison. | He’s hiding behind the house. |
| Devant | In front of | Preposition | Je t’attends devant ta porte. | I am waiting for you at your door. |
| En | In | Preposition | Je vis en Espagne. | I live in Spain. |
| Entre | Between | Preposition | Le marque-page est entre les pages du livre. | The bookmark is between the pages of the book. |
| Sous | Under | Preposition | J’ai mis la clé sous une pierre. | I placed the key under a stone. |
| Sur | On | Preposition | Le pain est sur la table. | The bread is on the table. |
| Vers | Toward, near | Preposition | Il s’avance vers elle. | He’s walking towards her. |
| À côté de | Next to, beside | Prepositional phrase | Il habite à côté de chez moi. | He lives next door to me. |
| À droite de | To the right of | Prepositional phrase | Le panneau est à droite de la route. | The sign is on the right side of the road. |
| À gauche de | To the left of | Prepositional phrase | Tourne à gauche. | Turn left. |
| À l’extérieur de | Outside (of) | Prepositional phrase | Il préfère être à l’extérieur de la maison. | He prefers to be outside the house. |
| À l’intérieur de | Inside (of) | Prepositional phrase | J’aime rester à l’intérieur quand il fait froid. | I like to stay inside when it's cold. |
| Au coin de | In the corner of | Prepositional phrase | Le magasin est au coin de la rue. | The store is around the corner. |
| Au-dessous de | Below, underneath | Prepositional phrase | La températeure est au-dessous de zéro. | The temperature is below zero. (More weather vocab in French here). |
| Au-dessus de | Higher than, above | Prepositional phrase | Au-dessus des nuages, il fait toujours soleil. | Above the clouds, it’s always sunny. |
| Autour de | Around | Prepositional phrase | Ils se rassemblent autour du feu. | They gather around the fire. |
| En arrière de | Behind | Prepositional phrase | S’il marche trop lentement, il va rester en arrière des autres. | If he walks too slowly, he will stay behind the others. |
| En bas de | Below, at the bottom of | Prepositional phrase | Je t’attends en bas de chez toi. | I'll wait for you downstairs. |
| En dehors de | Outside of | Prepositional phrase | Il a déménagé en dehors de la ville. | He moved out of town. |
| En dessous de | Lower than, below | Prepositional phrase | Elle vit en dessous de chez moi. | She lives downstairs from me. |
| En face de | Facing, across from | Prepositional phrase | Elle vit en face de chez lui. | She lives across the street from him. |
| En haut de | Above, at the top of | Prepositional phrase | Elle est en haut de l’échelle dans son entreprise. | She's at the top of the ladder at her company. |
| Hors de | Outside of | Prepositional phrase | Hors de la ville, c’est plus tranquille. | Out of town is quieter. |
| Loin de | Far from | Prepositional phrase | J’aime être loin de tout. | I like being away from everything. |
| Près de | Near (to) | Prepositional phrase | Elle veut vivre près de sa famille. | She wants to live near her family. (Learn French family vocab here) |
French prepositions of relation
Prepositions of relation indicate… drumroll… relations between people or things. They often imply causality or intent.
| Preposition | Translation | Type | Example sentence | Translation |
| Pour | For, to | Preposition | Elle vit pour voyager. | She lives to travel. |
| À | To | Preposition | Il veut faire plaisir à ses amis. | He wants to please his friends. |
| Avec | With | Preposition | Elle viendra avec sa mère. | She will come with her mother. |
| Ensemble | Together | Preposition | Ils sont ensemble depuis peu. | They haven’t been together for long. |
| Parmi | Among | Preposition | Je le distingue parmi la foule. | I can see him in the crowd. |
| Grâce à | Thanks to | Prepositional phrase | C’est grâce à lui que j’ai réussi. | It is thanks to him that I succeeded. |
French prepositions of time
Time was invented by humans, it doesn’t exist. So why worry about it? Ok, I digress. If you want to live in society, you’ll unfortunately need to refer to time!
French prepositions of time will help you say for how long something has been happening, or when it happened.
| Preposition | Translation | Type | Example sentence | Translation |
| Après | After | Preposition | Je t’appellerai après les cours. | I'll call you after school. |
| Avant | Before | Preposition | Je t’écrirai avant de partir. | I'll write you before I leave. |
| Depuis | Since, for | Preposition | J’ai envie de parler français depuis longtemps. | I've wanted to speak French for a long time. |
| Jusqu’à | Up to, until | Prepositional phrase | Tu restes à Montréal jusqu’à quand ? | How long are you staying in Montreal? |
| Pendant | For, during | Preposition | J’adore faire de la randonnée pendant les vacances. | I love to go hiking during my vacation. |
| Pour | For (future plans) | Preposition | Je vais habiter à Genève pour six mois. | I’ll be living in Geneva for six months. |
The cutest way to learn French prepositions
Admittedly, French grammar is not always riveting. I fully understand if you don’t have a passion for pronouns, possessive adjectives or question words.
However, you probably like dogs, right? If not, don’t worry, you’re just a Chandler. If yes, I found the cutest way to learn French prepositions: Bruno!
And for animal lovers, don’t miss these furry, feathery, scaly animals in French.
With our help, and of course Bruno’s, you should be more familiar with prepositions in French by now.
If not, you can always book a French course online.
And if you’re already a pro at prepositions, you’ll find some cool vocab sur notre French blog.
À bientôt !
