The preposition à is the workhorse of the French preposition system. It covers a startling range of meanings — to, at, in, on, by, for, with, of — and which English preposition it maps to depends entirely on context. A learner who memorizes à = to will be tripped up by à Paris (in/at Paris), à pied (on foot), à 5 euros (for 5 euros), la fille aux yeux bleus (the girl with blue eyes), and dozens of other uses where the simple gloss collapses.
This page surveys the major uses of à, with examples for each. Master these and you have mastered roughly half of all French prepositional phrases — the other half belong to de, the second great workhorse.
Remember the contraction rules from the start. À + le always becomes au, and à + les always becomes aux. À la and à l' never contract. Every example below respects this.
À for location: at, in, on
The first and most common use of à is to mark a location. It is neutral about the geometry of the place — neither inside nor on top of nor next to — and simply says the action happens at this place.
Je suis à la maison.
I'm at home.
On se retrouve au café à dix-huit heures ?
Shall we meet at the café at six?
Mon père travaille à l'hôpital.
My father works at the hospital.
Les enfants sont à l'école jusqu'à seize heures trente.
The children are at school until four-thirty.
For cities, à is the obligatory preposition for both in and to: à Paris, à Tokyo, à New York. There is no distinction in French between I am in Paris and I am going to Paris at the level of preposition — both are à Paris. The verb decides which it is.
J'habite à Lyon depuis cinq ans.
I have been living in Lyon for five years.
On part à Lisbonne le mois prochain.
We're going to Lisbon next month.
For countries, à gives way to en (feminine) or au/aux (masculine/plural) — see Dans, en, au and Places and countries.
À for direction: to
When the verb is one of motion (aller, venir, partir, courir, voyager), à marks the destination.
Je vais à la gare.
I'm going to the station.
Tu viens au cinéma avec nous ce soir ?
Are you coming to the cinema with us tonight?
Elle court tous les matins au parc.
She goes running every morning at the park.
The fact that aller à and être à both use à is not a glitch — French simply doesn't distinguish location from destination at the prepositional level. The verb does the disambiguating: je suis à Paris is I am in Paris, je vais à Paris is I'm going to Paris. Same preposition, two roles.
À for time: at a clock time
When telling the time, à is the standard preposition. It marks a precise point on the clock or in the day.
Le train part à huit heures et quart.
The train leaves at quarter past eight.
On dîne à vingt heures.
We have dinner at eight p.m.
À midi, je mange un sandwich au bureau.
At noon, I eat a sandwich at the office.
On se voit à la fin de la semaine ?
Shall we meet at the end of the week?
À also appears with à l'âge de (at the age of), à la fin de (at the end of), au début de (at the beginning of), à l'avenir (in the future), and similar fixed time anchors.
À for indirect objects: to whom, for whom
This is one of the most heavily used functions of à in French and a major point of divergence from English. Many French verbs require à before the human (or animate) recipient of the action — what English calls the indirect object. In English you can say I'm calling him (no preposition); in French you must say Je téléphone à lui — and the more usual form, with the indirect object pronoun, is Je lui téléphone.
J'ai donné le livre à mon frère.
I gave the book to my brother.
Je parle à mes parents tous les dimanches.
I talk to my parents every Sunday.
Tu peux écrire à ton professeur cet après-midi ?
Can you write to your teacher this afternoon?
On a téléphoné à la banque pour vérifier.
We called the bank to check.
The verbs that take à before a human complement include parler à, donner à, dire à, écrire à, téléphoner à, demander à, répondre à, ressembler à, plaire à, manquer à. Several of these (téléphoner, ressembler, plaire, manquer) are intransitive in French where they are transitive in English — a transfer error to watch for.
À for manner: by means of, in the style of
À can also mark manner — how something is done. This use covers two main subcategories: self-powered or manual transport, and stylistic descriptions.
For self-powered transport (you provide the locomotion), use à:
J'y vais à pied.
I'm going there on foot.
Elle fait les courses à vélo tous les samedis.
She does the shopping by bike every Saturday.
On y est allés à cheval, c'était magnifique.
We went there on horseback, it was magnificent.
For manner of cooking, fashion, or style:
Une omelette à la française, s'il vous plaît.
A French-style omelette, please.
Il danse à la manière des années trente.
He dances in the style of the thirties.
Tarte au citron à la façon du chef — c'est leur spécialité.
Lemon tart in the chef's style — that's their specialty.
The contrast with en matters here: en avion (by plane), en voiture (by car), en train (by train) — all enclosed vehicles where you sit inside. À pied, à vélo, à cheval, à moto (though en moto is now also accepted) — all open or self-powered. See Dans, en, au.
À for description: with (a feature)
When describing a noun by one of its characteristic features — particularly a body part, an article of clothing, or an essential ingredient — French uses à. English typically uses with.
C'est la fille aux yeux bleus, là-bas.
That's the girl with blue eyes, over there.
Tu vois l'homme à la barbe rousse ?
Do you see the man with the red beard?
Je voudrais une glace à la vanille, s'il vous plaît.
I'd like a vanilla ice cream, please. (Literally: an ice cream with vanilla.)
Une tarte aux pommes et un café au lait, s'il vous plaît.
An apple tart and a coffee with milk, please.
This à-of-description is everywhere on French menus and in everyday descriptions of people. Une glace au chocolat is a chocolate ice cream; un sandwich au jambon is a ham sandwich. The à tells you the defining ingredient or feature.
The article behind à contracts as usual: à + le = au, à + les = aux. So à le chocolat is impossible — it must be au chocolat. À + les pommes must contract: aux pommes.
À for price and rate
To say for X price or at X rate, French uses à.
Ces tomates sont à trois euros le kilo.
These tomatoes are three euros a kilo.
On a acheté la voiture à dix mille euros.
We bought the car for ten thousand euros.
Le menu du jour est à quinze euros.
The set menu is fifteen euros.
The English construction for X amount is à X amount in French in this purchase-and-pricing context. Notice that in spoken English we often drop for (these tomatoes are three euros a kilo) — but in French the à is structurally present.
À + infinitive
À often appears between a verb and a following infinitive, marking the infinitive as either a goal, a tendency, or a habitual partner of the main verb.
J'apprends à parler français depuis un an.
I have been learning to speak French for a year.
Tu commences à comprendre, n'est-ce pas ?
You're starting to understand, aren't you?
On a réussi à finir le projet avant la deadline.
We managed to finish the project before the deadline.
J'aide ma mère à faire les courses chaque samedi.
I help my mother do the shopping every Saturday.
The verbs that take à + inf form a long, lexical list: apprendre à, commencer à, réussir à, arriver à, aider à, hésiter à, inviter à, encourager à, parvenir à, renoncer à, songer à, tenir à, chercher à, continuer à (also de), penser à (when followed by an action one has in mind). There is no logical rule that predicts which verbs take à versus de — see À vs De with verbs.
À in fixed expressions
À anchors a wide set of fixed expressions that you should learn as units. These are not productive — you cannot generalize from them — but they are extremely high-frequency.
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| à demain | see you tomorrow |
| à plus tard / à plus | see you later (informal) |
| à bientôt | see you soon |
| à tout à l'heure | see you in a bit (same day) |
| à votre santé / à la tienne | cheers (formal / informal) |
| à propos | by the way |
| à peu près | roughly, approximately |
| à part | apart from, aside |
| à cause de | because of |
| à cause de cela / à cause de ça | because of that |
à condition que
| on condition that |
à moins que
| unless |
| à mon avis | in my opinion |
| à côté de | next to |
| à l'heure | on time |
| à temps | in time |
| à jamais | forever (literary) |
| au revoir | goodbye (literally: until we see each other again) |
À mon avis, on devrait partir tout de suite à cause de la circulation.
In my opinion, we should leave immediately because of the traffic.
On se voit à dix-neuf heures, à condition que je finisse à temps.
We'll meet at seven, on condition that I finish on time.
À for possession (informal)
In casual spoken French, à can mark possession: un ami à moi (a friend of mine), c'est la voiture à mon père (it's my dad's car). This is informal and is sometimes flagged as substandard by stricter grammarians, who prefer de: un ami de mes amis, la voiture de mon père. But à-possession is alive and well in everyday speech, especially with pronouns: un ami à moi sounds completely natural; un ami de moi would sound stilted or odd.
C'est un copain à moi qui m'a recommandé ce film.
A friend of mine recommended this film to me. (informal)
Le vélo à mon frère est dans le garage.
My brother's bike is in the garage. (informal — many speakers would prefer 'de mon frère')
The standard, written-French form uses de for noun-to-noun possession: le vélo de mon frère. Use à-possession when you want a casual register, particularly with pronouns.
À in the passive (formal): by
Most French passives are formed with par: La lettre a été écrite par Jean. But for verbs of feeling or perception (aimer, respecter, craindre, connaître, accompagner), the agent of the passive is sometimes introduced by de (or, in older French, by à). The à-agent in passive is largely archaic or literary today.
Aimé de tous, le directeur prend sa retraite cette année.
Loved by all, the director is retiring this year. (literary; modern speech: par tous)
This use is rare and bookish; you'll meet it in nineteenth-century novels and formal eulogies, but you won't need to produce it.
À with cities, towns, and small places
For cities and small named places (villages, neighbourhoods, train stations, airports, specific landmarks), à is the universal preposition.
On se voit à la gare de Lyon vers vingt heures ?
Shall we meet at Gare de Lyon around eight?
Mon avion atterrit à Roissy à dix-sept heures.
My flight lands at Roissy at five.
J'ai grandi à Marseille, mais je vis à Paris depuis quinze ans.
I grew up in Marseille, but I have been living in Paris for fifteen years.
For larger units — countries, continents, regions — the system shifts. Continents and feminine countries take en: en Europe, en France. Masculine countries take au: au Canada, au Japon. Plural countries take aux: aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas. The split between à (cities) and en/au/aux (countries) is the single most important place-preposition rule in French.
Common Mistakes
These are the errors English speakers make most often with à. Each pair shows the wrong form first.
❌ Je téléphone mon frère.
Incorrect — téléphoner takes à before the person.
✅ Je téléphone à mon frère.
I'm calling my brother.
❌ J'écoute à la radio.
Incorrect — écouter is transitive in French; no preposition needed.
✅ J'écoute la radio.
I'm listening to the radio.
❌ Je vais à le supermarché.
Incorrect — à + le must contract to au.
✅ Je vais au supermarché.
I'm going to the supermarket.
❌ Une glace de chocolat.
Incorrect — flavour descriptions use à, not de.
✅ Une glace au chocolat.
A chocolate ice cream.
❌ Je commence apprendre le français.
Incorrect — commencer takes à before an infinitive.
✅ Je commence à apprendre le français.
I'm starting to learn French.
❌ La fille avec yeux bleus.
Incorrect — body-feature description uses à + article, not avec.
✅ La fille aux yeux bleus.
The girl with blue eyes.
❌ Je vais en Tokyo.
Incorrect — cities take à, not en.
✅ Je vais à Tokyo.
I'm going to Tokyo.
Key takeaways
- À is the most polyvalent French preposition: to, at, in, on, by, for, with — context decides.
- For cities, à covers both in and to. For countries, the system switches to en / au / aux.
- À contracts mandatorily with le (→ au) and les (→ aux). It does not contract with la or l'.
- Many French verbs take à before an indirect-object person (parler à, téléphoner à, plaire à, manquer à). This is where transfer errors from English are most common.
- À + le ingredient describes a dish or feature: une glace au chocolat, la fille aux yeux bleus.
- À + infinitive is verb-specific and lexical — must be memorized verb by verb.
- For self-powered or manual transport, à is the right preposition: à pied, à vélo, à cheval.
Now practice French
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- French Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A systematic survey of the French preposition system — place, time, manner, cause, and purpose — plus the obligatory contractions au, aux, du, des.
- 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.
- The Preposition DeA1 — De is the second great workhorse of French — covering origin, possession, composition, partitives, verb complements, and more.
- Dans, En, Au — The Three Ways to Say 'In'A2 — Dans, en, and au all translate as 'in' — but each has a precise job. Master the split or you'll guess wrong every time.
- À vs De avec les Verbes + InfinitifA2 — Why French verbs link to a following infinitive with à, with de, or with nothing at all — the verb-by-verb pattern that has no clean rule but a manageable list of frequencies you can memorize.
- Verbes Suivis de ÀB1 — The verbs that obligatorily take à before their noun complement — parler à, téléphoner à, plaire à, manquer à, penser à, and the rest of the family — and how lui/leur and y replace the à + noun depending on whether the complement is a person or a thing.