Sur and sous are the French prepositions for vertical position: sur la table (on the table), sous la table (under the table). At the most basic level, the pair is symmetrical and easy. The complication, for English speakers, is not the literal meaning — it is the long list of English on phrases that are translated by something other than sur. On TV, on the bus, on Monday, on foot, on time — none of these use sur in French. Learning this page well means learning which uses of English on belong to sur and which belong elsewhere.
Sur: physical position on a surface
The core meaning of sur is on top of — an object resting on a horizontal surface, in contact with it.
Le livre est sur la table.
The book is on the table.
Tu peux poser tes clés sur le bureau ?
Can you put your keys on the desk?
Il y a une tache sur ta chemise.
There's a stain on your shirt.
Sur also covers vertical surfaces — anything attached to or pressed against a wall, a window, a screen — provided that the object is on the outside of the surface, in contact with it.
Le tableau est accroché sur le mur.
The painting is hanging on the wall.
Il y a un papillon sur la vitre.
There's a butterfly on the window.
In careful French, au mur is also common for things hung on a wall (le tableau est au mur), and many speakers prefer it. Both are correct; sur le mur is unambiguous and never wrong.
Sur: figurative extensions
A handful of figurative uses extend naturally from the physical meaning. Sur with media — printed surfaces, screens, networks — preserves the idea of content displayed on something.
J'ai vu cette photo sur Internet.
I saw this photo on the internet.
Sur la photo, on voit ma grand-mère.
In the photo, you can see my grandmother.
J'ai lu un article sur le climat.
I read an article on the climate.
That last example shows a useful extension: sur meaning about a topic. Un livre sur la guerre, une question sur le passé composé, un débat sur l'immigration. This is identical to English on in a book on the war.
Tu as une question sur le sujet ?
Do you have a question on the subject?
Sur also covers being on a road, route, or path:
Il y a un accident sur l'autoroute.
There's an accident on the motorway.
On s'est rencontrés sur la route de Lyon.
We met on the road to Lyon.
Sous: physical position underneath
Sous is the symmetrical counterpart: directly underneath, with or without contact.
Le chat dort sous la table.
The cat is sleeping under the table.
J'ai trouvé tes lunettes sous le canapé.
I found your glasses under the sofa.
Il y a un trésor sous l'eau.
There's a treasure under the water.
Note that sous l'eau (under water) is general; sous la pluie (in the rain) uses sous even though English would say in. In French, rain falls on you from above, so you stand under it.
On a marché une heure sous la pluie.
We walked for an hour in the rain.
Ne reste pas sous le soleil trop longtemps.
Don't stay in the sun too long.
Sous: figurative extensions
Sous travels metaphorically into the domains of authority, condition, and time-frame.
Under a ruler or regime. Sous expresses the period of someone's rule:
Cette cathédrale a été construite sous Napoléon.
This cathedral was built under Napoleon.
Sous la Cinquième République, le président est élu au suffrage direct.
Under the Fifth Republic, the president is elected by direct vote.
Under a pretext, condition, name. A whole family of fixed expressions:
Il a refusé sous prétexte qu'il était fatigué.
He refused under the pretext that he was tired.
Le contrat est signé sous condition.
The contract is signed under conditions.
Elle écrit sous un pseudonyme.
She writes under a pseudonym.
Within a time-frame. Sous + a duration means within, no later than:
Vous recevrez votre commande sous deux jours.
You'll receive your order within two days.
Je vous réponds sous 24 heures.
I'll get back to you within 24 hours.
This use is mostly written or business register — slightly formal, very common in customer-service contexts.
English on does not always map to sur
This is the central point of this page. English uses on extremely broadly, and only the physical surface meaning maps cleanly to sur. Here are the major English on expressions that need a different French preposition:
On TV / on the radio — use à, not sur:
❌ J'ai vu ce film sur la télé.
Incorrect — sur la télé sounds like the film is sitting on top of the TV set.
✅ J'ai vu ce film à la télé.
I saw this film on TV.
✅ J'ai entendu ça à la radio.
I heard that on the radio.
You can say sur la chaîne France 2 or sur Netflix — naming a specific channel or platform — because the channel is the surface on which the program appears. But the medium itself is à la télé, à la radio.
On the bus / on the train / on the plane — French sees the inside of a vehicle, so it uses dans (in):
❌ Je suis sur le bus.
Incorrect — sounds like you're on the roof of the bus.
✅ Je suis dans le bus.
I'm on the bus.
✅ J'ai dormi dans l'avion.
I slept on the plane.
The exception is sur le bateau — boats are large enough that French treats them like surfaces too. With smaller vehicles (cars, buses, planes, trains), use dans.
On Monday / on weekends — French uses no preposition at all, or le:
❌ Je travaille sur lundi.
Incorrect — sur with a day is not French.
✅ Je travaille lundi.
I'm working on Monday.
✅ Je travaille le lundi.
I work on Mondays (every Monday).
On foot / on horseback / on a bike — French uses à:
✅ Je viens à pied.
I'm coming on foot.
✅ Elle est partie à vélo.
She left on a bike.
On time / on average / on purpose — fixed expressions, none with sur:
✅ Il arrive toujours à l'heure.
He always arrives on time.
✅ En moyenne, il pleut tous les trois jours.
On average, it rains every three days.
✅ Il l'a fait exprès.
He did it on purpose.
A useful idiom: donner sur
The verb donner combines with sur to mean to overlook or to face:
Ma chambre donne sur le jardin.
My room overlooks the garden.
L'hôtel donne sur la mer.
The hotel faces the sea.
This is an everyday expression in real-estate and travel contexts — the kind of phrase that appears in every apartment listing. It does not have a clean English single-word equivalent.
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai vu le match sur la télé hier soir.
Incorrect — *à la télé* is the standard expression for watching something on TV.
✅ J'ai vu le match à la télé hier soir.
I watched the match on TV last night.
❌ Désolé, je suis sur le bus, je te rappelle.
Incorrect — French uses *dans* for the inside of a vehicle.
✅ Désolé, je suis dans le bus, je te rappelle.
Sorry, I'm on the bus, I'll call you back.
❌ On se voit sur lundi ?
Incorrect — French does not use a preposition with days of the week. The English *on Monday* is just *lundi*.
✅ On se voit lundi ?
Shall we meet on Monday?
❌ Je vais à l'école sur pied.
Incorrect — modes of transport without a vehicle take *à*: à pied, à cheval, à vélo.
✅ Je vais à l'école à pied.
I walk to school.
❌ Il y a un chat sous de la table.
Incorrect — *sous* takes a definite article directly, with no *de*. *Sous* is not built like *au-dessous de*.
✅ Il y a un chat sous la table.
There's a cat under the table.
The last error mixes sous with the more formal au-dessous de. Both mean underneath, but they have different syntax: sous la table (no de), au-dessous de la table (with de). For everyday speech, sous is what you want.
Key takeaways
- Sur covers physical contact with a surface (horizontal or vertical), the figurative on a topic, and being on a road or media platform.
- Sous covers physically underneath, periods of rule (sous Napoléon), conditions and pretexts (sous prétexte), and time-limits (sous deux jours).
- English on has a much wider range than French sur. The four English on expressions you must memorize as exceptions are: on TV/radio → à, on the bus/train/plane → dans, on Monday → no preposition, on foot → à pied.
- The idiom donner sur (to overlook, to face) is essential vocabulary for talking about apartments, hotels, and views.
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