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French prepositions quiz: à, de, en, dans, chez, pour and avec

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Answer 12 A2 questions on French prepositions for places, transport, time, purpose and company. Every answer includes an explanation and a full example.

In short

Choose a French preposition from the sentence’s meaning and its pattern: à Lyon, de Lyon, en train, dans la boîte, chez le médecin, pour apprendre, avec ma sœur. These twelve questions also separate a future delay with dans from a duration with en.

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Two sisters cooking dinner together in a modest French kitchen with vegetables on the counter.
Preparing dinner gives context to avec ma sœur. Illustration: Atelier

Choose the option that matches the English cue. A change of preposition can change a sentence’s meaning, so read the cue as well as the French. The questions move from places and transport to time, purpose, company and verb patterns.

Study first: en or dans for time

en vingt minutesin twenty minutes: time taken

Focus: the duration needed to finish

Elle prépare le dîner en vingt minutes.
She prepares dinner in twenty minutes.

dans vingt minutesin twenty minutes: time from now

Focus: when something will happen

Le dîner sera prêt dans vingt minutes.
Dinner will be ready twenty minutes from now.

Which French verbs take à or de?

J’apprends à cuisiner pour préparer le dîner avec mes amis.

I’m learning to cook so I can make dinner with my friends.

Apprendre à names the skill; pour gives the aim; avec says who is with you.

For a missed place question, identify what follows the gap: a city, a country, a person or a container. For a missed verb-pattern question, keep the pair together: avoir besoin de, apprendre à. One English “to” can lead to different French constructions.

  1. Question 1No account needed
    Say “I live in Lyon”.J’habite ___ Lyon.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    à. Use à with an ordinary city location: J’habite à Lyon.

  2. Question 2No account needed
    Say “He is coming from Lyon”.Il vient ___ Lyon.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    de. De marks the starting point or origin: Il vient de Lyon.

  3. Question 3No account needed
    Say “She lives in France”.Elle habite ___ France.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    en. Use en with France: Elle habite en France. Compare à Lyon for the city.

  4. Question 4No account needed
    Say “We are travelling by train”.Nous voyageons ___ train.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    en. The transport expression is en train: Nous voyageons en train.

  5. Question 5No account needed
    The keys are inside the box.Les clés sont ___ la boîte.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    dans. Dans places the keys inside a particular container: dans la boîte.

  6. Question 6No account needed
    The departure is ten minutes from now.Le train part ___ dix minutes.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    dans. Dans gives the time from now until departure: Le train part dans dix minutes.

  7. Question 7No account needed
    Say that the journey takes you two hours to complete.Je fais le trajet ___ deux heures.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    en. En gives the time taken to complete the journey: Je fais le trajet en deux heures.

  8. Question 8No account needed
    You are going to see the doctor.Je vais ___ le médecin.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    chez. Use chez before the person whose home or workplace you visit: chez le médecin.

  9. Question 9No account needed
    Say “I’m studying in order to pass this exam”.J’étudie ___ réussir cet examen.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    pour. Pour + infinitive gives the purpose: pour réussir cet examen.

  10. Question 10No account needed
    Say “I’m travelling with my sister”.Je voyage ___ ma sœur.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    avec. Avec introduces the person accompanying you: avec ma sœur.

  11. Question 11No account needed
    Say “I need some rest”.J’ai besoin ___ repos.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    de. The expression is avoir besoin de + noun: J’ai besoin de repos.

  12. Question 12No account needed
    Say “I’m learning to drive”.J’apprends ___ conduire.

    Choose one answer.

    Answer and explanation

    à. Apprendre takes à before the activity you are learning: J’apprends à conduire.

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