French spatial prepositions split into two groups based on a simple syntactic test: the simple prepositions (dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière) attach directly to a noun phrase, while the compound prepositions built around de (à côté de, près de, loin de, en face de, au milieu de, au bout de, au coin de, au-dessus de, au-dessous de, autour de) require de before the noun, with the usual contractions de + le = du, de + les = des.
This page is a working reference: a complete inventory of the high-frequency spatial prepositions, the syntactic split, the directional pair à (going-to) versus de (coming-from), and natural examples in real-world contexts. By the end, you should be able to describe any spatial scene without hesitation.
The simple prepositions
These five prepositions attach directly to the noun phrase, with no intervening de. They cover the most basic spatial relationships and are A1-level vocabulary.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dans | in, inside | dans la cuisine |
| sur | on, on top of | sur la table |
| sous | under, underneath | sous le lit |
| devant | in front of | devant la maison |
| derrière | behind | derrière l'école |
Les enfants jouent dans le jardin pendant que je prépare le dîner.
The kids are playing in the garden while I make dinner.
J'ai laissé mon parapluie sur la chaise à côté de l'entrée.
I left my umbrella on the chair next to the entrance.
Le chat dort toujours sous le canapé quand il fait chaud.
The cat always sleeps under the sofa when it's hot.
Il y a un petit parking devant l'immeuble si tu viens en voiture.
There's a small parking lot in front of the building if you come by car.
On a garé la voiture derrière le supermarché.
We parked the car behind the supermarket.
These five prepositions take the noun directly, with the article: dans la cuisine, sur la table, sous le canapé, devant la maison, derrière l'école. There is no de required, and no contraction issue — the article goes straight after the preposition.
The compound prepositions with de
The next group is built on a noun + de template: a spatial noun (côté, milieu, bout, coin, face, dessus, dessous) is preceded by à or au, and followed by de before the noun. The de is required, and it contracts as usual: de + le = du, de + les = des.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| à côté de | next to, beside | à côté du musée |
| près de | near, close to | près de la gare |
| loin de | far from | loin de Paris |
| en face de | across from, opposite | en face du parc |
| autour de | around | autour de la table |
| au milieu de | in the middle of | au milieu de la place |
| au bout de | at the end of | au bout de la rue |
| au coin de | at the corner of | au coin de la rue |
| au-dessus de | above | au-dessus du lit |
| au-dessous de | below | au-dessous du sol |
| le long de | along | le long de la rivière |
| en bas de | at the bottom of | en bas de l'escalier |
| en haut de | at the top of | en haut de la tour |
La boulangerie est juste à côté de la pharmacie, au coin de la rue.
The bakery is right next to the pharmacy, at the corner of the street.
On habite près de la gare, donc c'est très pratique pour les déplacements.
We live near the station, so it's very convenient for getting around.
Mes parents vivent loin de Paris, dans un petit village en Bretagne.
My parents live far from Paris, in a small village in Brittany.
L'arrêt de bus est juste en face du parc, tu ne peux pas le rater.
The bus stop is right across from the park, you can't miss it.
Les enfants se sont assis autour de la table pour le goûter.
The kids sat down around the table for their afternoon snack.
Au milieu de la place, il y a une grande fontaine du XVIIIe siècle.
In the middle of the square, there's a large eighteenth-century fountain.
La pharmacie est tout au bout de la rue, sur la gauche.
The pharmacy is right at the end of the street, on the left.
On s'est retrouvés au coin de la rue de Rivoli et de la rue Saint-Antoine.
We met at the corner of rue de Rivoli and rue Saint-Antoine.
Il y a un beau tableau au-dessus du canapé.
There's a beautiful painting above the sofa.
On marchait le long de la Seine en parlant de l'avenir.
We walked along the Seine talking about the future.
The contractions are obligatory and automatic. À côté de + le marché must become à côté du marché; en face de + les bureaux must become en face des bureaux. Drop the contraction and the sentence is wrong.
Vers, jusqu'à, and chez in the spatial system
Three other spatial prepositions deserve mention, though each has its own dedicated page:
- Vers — toward (direction without commitment to arrival): L'avion se dirige vers New York.
- Jusqu'à — as far as, up to (an absolute limit): On a marché jusqu'à la place principale.
- Chez — at someone's place (always followed by a person): On dîne chez mes parents.
Tournez-vous vers la fenêtre, je vais prendre une photo.
Turn toward the window, I'm going to take a picture.
Le sentier va jusqu'à la cascade, mais après c'est de la forêt dense.
The path goes as far as the waterfall, but after that it's dense forest.
Je passe chez le médecin avant le travail.
I'm stopping by the doctor's before work.
Direction: à for going-to, de for coming-from
When you describe motion to or from a place, French uses two prepositions that exactly mirror each other: à for the destination, de for the origin. The pattern works for any verb of motion: aller à (go to), venir de (come from), partir à / pour (leave for), arriver à (arrive at), retourner à (return to), rentrer de (come back from).
On part à Marseille vendredi soir et on rentre de Marseille dimanche.
We're leaving for Marseille Friday night and coming back from Marseille Sunday.
L'avion arrive à Roissy à 14 heures.
The plane arrives at Roissy at 2 p.m.
For countries, the rules from the dans-en-au page apply: en for feminine countries (en France), au for masculine (au Canada), aux for plural (aux États-Unis). The from forms: de France, du Canada, des États-Unis.
Je viens d'Espagne mais je vis aux Pays-Bas.
I'm from Spain but I live in the Netherlands.
Mon frère revient du Japon dans deux semaines.
My brother is coming back from Japan in two weeks.
Le train de Lyon arrive à Paris dans une heure.
The train from Lyon arrives in Paris in an hour.
For chez, the same direction-by-verb logic applies: je vais chez Pierre (going to Pierre's), je viens de chez Pierre (coming from Pierre's). The combination de chez is fixed.
Je sors de chez le coiffeur, regarde ma nouvelle coupe !
I'm just leaving the hairdresser's — look at my new haircut!
Describing a room and a city
Real-world spatial description chains many of these prepositions together. Below is a stretch describing a typical apartment, then a city block.
L'appartement est au troisième étage, juste au-dessus d'une petite épicerie.
The apartment is on the third floor, right above a small grocery store.
Le canapé est en face de la fenêtre, et la télé est sur le meuble entre les deux étagères.
The sofa is across from the window, and the TV is on the shelf between the two bookcases.
La chambre des enfants est au bout du couloir, à côté de la salle de bain.
The kids' bedroom is at the end of the hallway, next to the bathroom.
Mes affaires sont dans le tiroir du bureau, sous mes papiers.
My things are in the drawer of the desk, under my papers.
Le frigo est au coin de la cuisine, près de la fenêtre qui donne sur la cour.
The fridge is in the corner of the kitchen, near the window that looks onto the courtyard.
Le café est rue de Rivoli, en face du Louvre.
The café is on rue de Rivoli, across from the Louvre.
Au coin du boulevard et de la rue Saint-Michel, il y a une grande librairie.
At the corner of the boulevard and rue Saint-Michel, there's a big bookshop.
On a habité près de chez vous pendant quelques années.
We lived near your place for a few years.
A useful idiom: donner sur (to overlook, to face). Essential vocabulary for talking about apartments and views.
Notre chambre donne sur le jardin — c'est très calme le matin.
Our bedroom looks out onto the garden — it's very quiet in the morning.
Au-dessus de versus sur — above versus on
A subtle distinction worth noting: sur requires contact with the surface, while au-dessus de describes vertical position without contact.
- Le tableau est sur le mur. — The painting is on the wall (in contact, hanging or affixed).
- Le tableau est au-dessus du canapé. — The painting is above the sofa (vertical position, no contact).
- La lampe est au-dessus de la table. — The lamp is above the table (hanging from above, no contact).
L'avion vole au-dessus des nuages.
The plane is flying above the clouds.
The same logic applies to au-dessous de (below, without contact) versus sous (under, often with contact or close enclosure). In everyday speech, sur and sous are by far the more frequent. Au-dessus de and au-dessous de are reached for when the speaker wants to emphasize that the relationship is vertical-positional rather than contact-based.
Why English speakers find this hard
Two main traps. First, the syntactic split between simple prepositions (no de) and compound prepositions (with de) does not exist in English. English uses single-word forms for everything: next to takes a noun directly, near takes a noun directly, behind takes a noun directly. French distributes the same meanings across two grammatical patterns, and English speakers initially want to drop the de in à côté de la maison or en face du parc. The de is structural; it must stay.
Second, the contractions du (= de + le) and des (= de + les) are mandatory. À côté de le musée is wrong; it must be à côté du musée. The contraction is automatic in spoken French; learners who skip it sound like they're translating word by word.
A third minor trap: autour de (around) sometimes confuses learners who try to translate English around with vers. Vers means toward; autour de means around. Je marche vers la table (walking toward the table) and je marche autour de la table (walking around the table) are different sentences.
Common mistakes
❌ La pharmacie est près la gare.
Incorrect — près de requires de before the noun.
✅ La pharmacie est près de la gare.
The pharmacy is near the station.
❌ Mon bureau est à côté de le musée.
Incorrect — de + le must contract to du.
✅ Mon bureau est à côté du musée.
My office is next to the museum.
❌ L'arrêt de bus est en face le parc.
Incorrect — en face de requires de before the noun.
✅ L'arrêt de bus est en face du parc.
The bus stop is across from the park.
❌ J'habite proche de la gare.
Awkward — proche is an adjective; the preposition is près de.
✅ J'habite près de la gare.
I live near the station.
❌ Je viens à Paris demain.
Incorrect — for coming-from, use de; for going-to, use à.
✅ Je viens de Paris demain.
I'm coming from Paris tomorrow. (Or, with à: 'Je vais à Paris demain' = I'm going to Paris tomorrow.)
❌ Le tableau est sur le canapé. (when meaning hanging high above)
Awkward if the painting is suspended without contact — sur implies contact with the surface.
✅ Le tableau est au-dessus du canapé.
The painting is above the sofa.
❌ On a marché vers la maison. (when meaning all the way to it)
Awkward — vers means 'toward without commitment'. For a fixed endpoint, use jusqu'à.
✅ On a marché jusqu'à la maison.
We walked as far as the house.
Key takeaways
- Simple prepositions (dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière) attach directly to the noun phrase. Compound prepositions (à côté de, près de, loin de, en face de, au milieu de, au bout de, au coin de, au-dessus de, au-dessous de, autour de) require de, with the usual contractions du and des.
- For motion, à marks the destination (aller à Paris), de marks the origin (venir de Paris). Countries follow their own pattern: en France / de France, au Canada / du Canada, aux États-Unis / des États-Unis.
- Sur implies contact; au-dessus de implies vertical position without contact. Sous is the everyday word for under; au-dessous de is reserved for emphasis on vertical separation.
- Vers is direction without commitment; jusqu'à is the absolute limit; chez is at someone's place and requires a person.
- The idiom donner sur (to overlook, to face) is essential vocabulary for describing apartments, hotels, and views.
- The full inventory is small enough to memorize, but the syntactic split is what makes it work in practice. Drill the simple/compound split until it is automatic.
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- 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.
- Sur, Sous: on, underA1 — Sur and sous are the basic French prepositions for vertical position — but English on splits in unexpected ways, and only one of those English uses actually corresponds to sur. Mastering this pair means learning when not to use sur.
- Chez: 'at someone's place'A1 — Chez is one of the most distinctively French prepositions — there is no clean English equivalent. It marks 'at someone's place,' covers visits to professionals like the doctor or hairdresser, and extends figuratively to mean 'among' a group or 'in the work of' a writer.
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- Exprimer le LieuA2 — How French expresses 'where' — from countries and cities to position prepositions, neighbourhoods, and the all-important gendered country system. Master à, en, au, aux for places, plus chez, dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière, and the rest.