If you have ever frozen mid-sentence wondering whether it's en France or à la France, au Canada or en Canada, aux États-Unis or en États-Unis, this page is for you. The French system for prepositions with countries and cities is regular — once you see the logic — but the logic isn't intuitive for English speakers, who happily use "to/in/from" for every place name. French splits the work over four prepositions (en, à, au, aux) for location, and three (de, du, des) for origin, and the choice depends on the gender, number, and initial sound of the place name.
The location system: a one-glance table
| Place type | Preposition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine country (most -e) | en (no article) | en France, en Italie, en Allemagne, en Chine |
| Masculine country, vowel-initial | en (no article) | en Iran, en Israël, en Afghanistan, en Uruguay |
| Masculine country, consonant-initial | au | au Japon, au Canada, au Maroc, au Mexique |
| Plural country | aux | aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas, aux Philippines |
| City | à | à Paris, à Madrid, à Tokyo, à Dakar |
| Continent (all feminine in -e) | en | en Europe, en Afrique, en Asie, en Océanie |
| Article-less country / small state / island | à | à Cuba, à Madagascar, à Chypre, à Singapour |
The single thing that links en and au and aux is hidden by the spelling: all three are historically en and à fused with a definite article. Au is à + le, aux is à + les, and en is the relic of an older form in (Latin in) that survives before feminine and vowel-initial place names. So in effect, every country does have an article underneath; the preposition just absorbs it differently depending on gender and initial sound.
Feminine countries: en + bare noun
The overwhelming majority of countries whose names end in -e in writing are feminine. With these, location is en followed by the bare noun — no article.
J'ai grandi en Espagne mais je vis en Suisse depuis dix ans.
I grew up in Spain but I've been living in Switzerland for ten years.
On part en Belgique ce week-end pour voir mes cousins à Liège.
We're going to Belgium this weekend to see my cousins in Liège.
This is the pattern for la France, l'Italie, l'Espagne, l'Allemagne, l'Angleterre, la Belgique, la Suisse, la Russie, la Chine, la Pologne, la Grèce, la Suède, la Norvège, l'Australie, la Tunisie, l'Algérie, la Côte d'Ivoire, la Colombie, l'Argentine, la Bolivie, l'Inde — and most others ending in -e. The exceptions (masculine -e countries) take au and are listed below.
Masculine vowel-initial: also en
Masculine country names that begin with a vowel sound also take en with a bare noun. This is one of those places where French phonology overrides morphology: au Iran would create a clumsy hiatus, so French avoids it by treating the country like a feminine one for preposition purposes.
Mon père a vécu en Iran avant la révolution.
My father lived in Iran before the revolution.
Il y a eu une augmentation des exportations vers l'Uruguay et en Afghanistan.
There has been an increase in exports to Uruguay and to Afghanistan.
This pattern covers l'Iran, l'Irak, l'Afghanistan, l'Uruguay, l'Équateur, l'Azerbaïdjan, l'Ouzbékistan, l'Angola. The country Israël — masculine, vowel-initial, but without a definite article — also takes en (en Israël), though some speakers say à Israël by analogy with Cuba; the en form is more common in standard usage.
Masculine consonant-initial: au
For masculine countries beginning with a consonant, location is au — the contraction of à + le.
Au Japon, on enlève toujours ses chaussures en entrant dans une maison.
In Japan, you always take off your shoes when entering a house.
Mon frère travaille au Sénégal depuis trois ans, dans une ONG basée à Dakar.
My brother has been working in Senegal for three years, at an NGO based in Dakar.
This is the pattern for le Japon, le Canada, le Brésil, le Maroc, le Sénégal, le Mali, le Liban, le Portugal, le Pérou, le Chili, le Danemark, le Pakistan, le Honduras, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe.
The rare masculine -e countries — le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe, le Belize — pattern with the masculine consonant-initial group: au Mexique, au Cambodge, au Mozambique.
On a passé deux semaines au Mexique l'hiver dernier, c'était magnifique.
We spent two weeks in Mexico last winter, it was wonderful.
Plural countries: aux
A small but high-frequency group of countries are grammatically plural. With these, location is aux — the contraction of à + les.
Ma cousine fait ses études aux États-Unis, à Boston.
My cousin is studying in the United States, in Boston.
On peut prendre le train d'Amsterdam jusqu'à Berlin, ou rester aux Pays-Bas un peu plus longtemps.
You can take the train from Amsterdam to Berlin, or stay in the Netherlands a bit longer.
The plural countries you will most often meet: les États-Unis, les Pays-Bas, les Philippines, les Émirats arabes unis, les Comores, les Seychelles, les Maldives, les Bahamas, les Antilles.
Cities: always à
City names take à, without an article — regardless of whether the city's name happens to end in -e (which would suggest feminine for a country).
J'ai des amis à Paris, à Lyon, à Marseille et à Bruxelles.
I have friends in Paris, in Lyon, in Marseille and in Brussels.
The exceptions are cities whose names include a built-in article. Le Havre, Le Caire, Le Mans, La Rochelle, La Nouvelle-Orléans, La Haye — these contract: au Havre, au Caire, au Mans, à La Rochelle (because La starts with a capital and is treated as part of the proper name), à La Nouvelle-Orléans, à La Haye.
Mon vol fait escale au Caire avant d'arriver à La Haye.
My flight has a stopover in Cairo before arriving in The Hague.
Continents: en
Every continent name (except l'Antarctique) is feminine and ends in -e. They all take en.
Elle a vécu en Asie, en Afrique et en Amérique latine avant de revenir en Europe.
She lived in Asia, Africa and Latin America before coming back to Europe.
For Antarctica: en Antarctique is the standard form, despite the masculine gender — vowel-initial rule wins, as usual.
Islands and article-less states
A handful of countries — most of them islands, but a few are not — carry no article. With these, location is à + bare name, just like cities.
Mes parents passent l'hiver à Cuba presque chaque année.
My parents spend the winter in Cuba almost every year.
J'ai un collègue qui a vécu à Madagascar et un autre qui a grandi à Singapour.
I have a colleague who lived in Madagascar and another who grew up in Singapore.
The main article-less country names: Cuba, Haïti, Madagascar, Singapour, Chypre, Malte, Maurice (Mauritius), Monaco, Saint-Marin. (Andorre is treated either way in practice — l'Andorre / en Andorre / d'Andorre is the standard form, but article-less à Andorre is also heard.) Some islands keep the article and take à la: à la Martinique, à la Guadeloupe, à la Réunion, à la Jamaïque, à la Barbade.
On part deux semaines à la Martinique, et au retour on s'arrête à la Guadeloupe.
We're leaving for two weeks in Martinique, and on the way back we'll stop in Guadeloupe.
The split between island-with-article and island-without-article is largely historical and not predictable from the name. Most large French overseas territories keep the article (la Réunion, la Martinique, la Guadeloupe, la Nouvelle-Calédonie); most independent island states drop it (Cuba, Haïti, Madagascar, Maurice, Chypre).
Origin: de, du, des, d'
The same logic governs origin. Replace en with de (d' before a vowel), au with du, aux with des, and à with de (d'):
| Location | Origin | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| en France | de France | Elle revient de France demain. |
| en Iran | d'Iran | Ce tapis vient d'Iran. |
| au Japon | du Japon | Il rentre du Japon ce soir. |
| aux États-Unis | des États-Unis | Je reçois un colis des États-Unis. |
| à Cuba | de Cuba | Ce cigare vient de Cuba. |
| à Paris | de Paris | Le TGV de Paris arrive à 18h. |
Je rentre du Sénégal demain matin et je repars en Belgique vendredi.
I'm coming back from Senegal tomorrow morning and leaving again for Belgium on Friday.
Common Mistakes
❌ Je vais à France.
Incorrect — countries don't take *à*, except for article-less ones.
✅ Je vais en France.
I'm going to France.
❌ Mon ami habite en Canada.
Incorrect — *le Canada* is masculine consonant-initial, so it takes *au*.
✅ Mon ami habite au Canada.
My friend lives in Canada.
❌ Elle vient de les États-Unis.
Incorrect — *de + les* contracts to *des*.
✅ Elle vient des États-Unis.
She comes from the United States.
❌ J'aimerais aller à Iran un jour.
Incorrect — masculine vowel-initial countries take *en*, not *à*.
✅ J'aimerais aller en Iran un jour.
I'd like to go to Iran one day.
❌ On part au Madagascar en octobre.
Incorrect — *Madagascar* is one of the article-less countries and takes *à*.
✅ On part à Madagascar en octobre.
We're leaving for Madagascar in October.
❌ Le train arrive à le Havre à midi.
Incorrect — *à + le* contracts to *au*, even for cities whose name includes *Le*.
✅ Le train arrive au Havre à midi.
The train arrives in Le Havre at noon.
A quick-reference algorithm
When you need to say "in/to [a place]," ask three questions:
- Is it a city? → à.
- Is it plural? → aux.
- Does it take an article? If yes: en (feminine or vowel-initial masculine) or au (consonant-initial masculine). If no: à.
For origin, the same three questions get you de, des, or de/du. Two minutes of practice on a list of twenty countries — half feminine, half masculine, two plural, two article-less — and the pattern locks in. From that point on, prepositions before country names will feel as automatic as they already do in English.
Now practice French
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Les Pays Francophones: OverviewA2 — A survey of the French-speaking world — France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific — and the grammar of talking about countries in French.
- Prépositions avec Lieux et PaysA1 — How French chooses between à, en, au, and aux to say 'in/to a place' — the rule that depends on whether the place is a city, a feminine country, a masculine country, or plural — plus the matching forms (de, de, du, des) for 'from'.
- The Contractions au, aux, du, desA1 — The mandatory contractions of à and de with le and les — a foundational mechanic that touches almost every French sentence.
- La FranceA1 — France as a linguistic territory — l'Hexagone and the DOM-TOM, the major regional accents, the Académie française, and what 'standard French' actually means.
- La BelgiqueA2 — Belgium's French — Wallonia and Brussels, the famous septante and nonante, distinctive vocabulary (déjeuner vs. dîner, ça goûte, drache), and the sociolinguistic split with Flanders.
- La Suisse RomandeA2 — Swiss French — the seven Romandie cantons, the conservative numerals septante / huitante / nonante, helvétismes like panosse and bonne-main, and the slower spoken rhythm that gives the variety its character.