Spot the mistake: à, en or au with cities and countries
Je vais en Paris? Au France? Tap the wrong preposition in eight travel sentences, then master à, en, au and aux with places for good.
- A2
- 8 sentences
- Tap the wrong word
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Cities take à (à Rome), feminine countries take en (en Italie), masculine countries au (au Japon), and plural countries aux (aux États-Unis). Most countries ending in -e are feminine; le Mexique and le Cambodge are exceptions.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Tap the word that's wrong in each sentence.
I'm going to Paris tomorrow.
Cities take à.
She's lived in France for two years.
La France is feminine: en France.
They're leaving for Japan in April.
Le Japon: au Japon.
My brother works in the US.
Plural: aux États-Unis.
We're spending a week in Spain.
L'Espagne is feminine: en Espagne.
Have you ever been to Mexico?
Le Mexique is masculine despite the -e.
We live in Lyon.
City: à Lyon.
She's coming back from Canada.
De + le Canada = du Canada.
À, en or au with cities and countries?
| Place | To / in | From |
|---|---|---|
| city | à Paris | de Paris |
| feminine country | en France | de France |
| masculine country | au Portugal | du Portugal |
| plural country | aux Pays-Bas | des Pays-Bas |
| country starting with a vowel | en Iran (masc.) | d'Iran |
Masculine countries that start with a vowel also take en: en Israël, en Iran, en Irak. Islands vary: à Chypre, à Madagascar, but en Corse, en Sicile. When you come back from a place, the preposition becomes de / du / des.
- Collègue
Tu pars où cet été ?
Where are you going this summer?
- Toi
D'abord au Portugal, à Lisbonne, puis en Espagne.
First to Portugal, to Lisbon, then to Spain.
- Collègue
Moi, je rentre des États-Unis la semaine prochaine.
I'm getting back from the US next week.