A place expression — une expression de lieu — anchors a sentence in space. I live in Paris. We're going to France. The keys are on the table. He came back from Madrid. Each of these requires a small machine of preposition + place name (or position word + object), and French builds that machine differently from English. The country-gender preposition system, the chez construction, and the y / en pronouns are three points where French place expressions diverge sharply from English habits.
This page covers two layers. The first is the inventory of place expressions: how French names where something is, where it's going, and where it's coming from. The second is the position of those expressions inside a sentence, and the pronoun y that replaces them when the place is already in context. For the deeper architecture (country-by-country preposition tables, exhaustive position prepositions), see the complex/expressing-place page.
Sentence position of place expressions
French gives you three positions for a place expression — and the choice is largely about emphasis and rhythm rather than grammar. All three positions are grammatical; you pick the one that fits the flow of the sentence.
At the end of the sentence — the neutral, default position. Conversational French puts place expressions here unless there is a reason to do otherwise.
Je vis à Paris depuis cinq ans.
I've been living in Paris for five years.
On se retrouve devant le cinéma.
We're meeting in front of the cinema.
Mes parents passent l'été dans le sud.
My parents spend the summer in the south.
This is by far the most common slot. If you don't know where to put a place expression, put it at the end.
At the start of the sentence — sets the place as the topic before introducing the action. The fronted version highlights the location and is set off by a comma.
À Paris, on mange bien — mais on paie cher.
In Paris, you eat well — but you pay a lot.
Chez ma grand-mère, il y a toujours de la soupe sur le feu.
At my grandmother's, there's always soup on the stove.
Dans cette ville, tout le monde se connaît.
In this town, everyone knows each other.
This is a topicalization: the speaker is announcing the location as the frame, then making a comment about it. It works particularly well when the sentence is a generalization about a place, or when the speaker is contrasting one place with another.
Between subject and verb (rare) — only used when the place expression is parenthetical, set off by commas on both sides. This sounds bookish and is unusual in everyday speech.
J'ai, à Paris, beaucoup d'amis qui m'attendent.
In Paris, I have many friends who are waiting for me.
Le président, en France, est élu pour cinq ans.
The president, in France, is elected for five years.
Reserve this position for written or formal style; in conversation it would feel artificial.
Cities, countries, regions: à, en, au, aux
For destinations and locations, the preposition depends on the type of place and, for countries, on grammatical gender.
Cities take à:
J'habite à Lyon, mais je travaille à Genève.
I live in Lyon, but I work in Geneva.
Mon frère est né à Marseille en 1995.
My brother was born in Marseille in 1995.
Feminine countries (and most countries ending in -e, plus all those starting with a vowel) take en:
On part en France cet été, puis en Italie.
We're going to France this summer, then to Italy.
Elle vit en Espagne depuis son mariage.
She's been living in Spain since her wedding.
Masculine countries take au:
Mes cousins habitent au Canada, à Montréal.
My cousins live in Canada, in Montreal.
Il a passé deux ans au Japon comme professeur de français.
He spent two years in Japan as a French teacher.
Plural countries take aux:
Nos amis vivent aux États-Unis depuis cinq ans ; avant ça, ils étaient aux Pays-Bas.
Our friends have been living in the United States for five years; before that, they were in the Netherlands.
The country-gender rule deserves its own attention because it is the single biggest place-preposition trap. The shortcut: most country names ending in -e are feminine (la France, l'Italie, la Belgique, l'Allemagne, la Chine, la Russie), so they take en. Notable exceptions are le Mexique, le Mozambique, le Cambodge, le Zimbabwe — all masculine despite the -e. Country names that don't end in -e are usually masculine (le Canada, le Japon, le Brésil, le Portugal), so they take au. Plurals like les États-Unis, les Pays-Bas, les Philippines take aux.
Coming from: de, du, des
The same gender system reverses for origin. De with feminine countries and cities, du with masculine, des with plural.
Elle vient de France, lui vient du Brésil.
She's from France, he's from Brazil.
Le train arrive de Marseille à 18 h.
The train from Marseille arrives at 6 p.m.
Mes grands-parents sont venus des Philippines il y a trente ans.
My grandparents came from the Philippines thirty years ago.
C'est un cadeau du Japon — j'adore le papier washi.
It's a gift from Japan — I love washi paper.
The mental shortcut: whatever you put after en/au/aux for destination, swap it for de/du/des for origin. En France / de France. Au Japon / du Japon. Aux États-Unis / des États-Unis.
Chez: at someone's place
Chez is one of those small French words that has no clean English equivalent. It means "at the home of," "at the establishment of," or "at the workplace of" — broadly, at someone's place. It always takes a person, a profession, or a name.
On dîne chez moi ce soir, vers 20 h.
We're having dinner at my place tonight, around 8.
Elle est chez le dentiste — c'est pour ça qu'elle ne répond pas.
She's at the dentist's — that's why she's not answering.
Tu as déjà mangé chez Paul ? Sa cuisine est incroyable.
Have you ever eaten at Paul's? His cooking is incredible.
Je passe chez le boulanger en rentrant.
I'll stop by the baker's on my way home.
Chez extends metaphorically to "in the work of" an artist, "in the case of" a group of people, or "in" a culture. Chez Proust, le temps... (In Proust's writing, time...). Chez les Français, on s'embrasse pour dire bonjour (Among the French, people kiss to say hello). This metaphorical use is B2-level; at A2, focus on the literal "at someone's place" sense.
Position prepositions: dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière, entre
Beyond the country/city/person system, French uses position prepositions to say where something is relative to a landmark. Most of these map cleanly onto English equivalents.
| French | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dans | in (enclosed) | dans la maison |
| sur | on | sur la table |
| sous | under | sous le lit |
| devant | in front of | devant la porte |
| derrière | behind | derrière l'arbre |
| entre | between | entre les deux maisons |
| à côté de | next to | à côté de moi |
| en face de | across from | en face de la mairie |
| près de | near | près de la gare |
| loin de | far from | loin du bruit |
| au-dessus de | above | au-dessus du lit |
| au-dessous de | below | au-dessous du tableau |
Les clés sont sur la table, à côté du téléphone.
The keys are on the table, next to the phone.
Il y a un chat sous la voiture — viens voir.
There's a cat under the car — come and see.
On habite en face de la boulangerie, c'est très pratique.
We live across from the bakery — it's very convenient.
Le restaurant est entre la pharmacie et la poste.
The restaurant is between the pharmacy and the post office.
The contrast worth flagging is dans vs à. Use dans for an enclosed or bounded space (dans la maison, dans la voiture, dans le sac); use à for a city, a public institution, or an event (à Paris, à l'école, à la fête). Je suis dans le bus describes being inside the vehicle; je suis au cinéma describes being at the cinema as an event/location.
Movement: where you're going, where you're coming from
Verbs of movement take place expressions that look identical to static location expressions, but the prepositions encode direction by being paired with directional verbs.
Going somewhere — aller, partir, voyager + à/en/au/aux:
Je vais à Berlin demain pour un week-end.
I'm going to Berlin tomorrow for a weekend.
On part en Grèce en juillet, on a hâte.
We're leaving for Greece in July — we can't wait.
Leaving for somewhere — partir pour (more emphatic, often used for definitive departures):
Elle est partie pour Tokyo lundi dernier — elle y reste deux ans.
She left for Tokyo last Monday — she's staying two years.
Le train pour Marseille part dans dix minutes, voie 5.
The train for Marseille leaves in ten minutes, platform 5.
Partir pour is more forward-looking than aller à: it emphasizes the departure and the destination as a project, not just a trip. Je vais à Marseille is a simple statement of destination; je pars pour Marseille sounds like a more committed move.
Coming from somewhere — venir de, revenir de, rentrer de:
Je viens de Lyon, mais j'habite à Paris depuis vingt ans.
I'm from Lyon, but I've been living in Paris for twenty years.
Ils rentrent du Maroc demain, après deux semaines de voyage.
They're coming back from Morocco tomorrow after a two-week trip.
The pronoun y: replacing a place
When a place expression is already known from context, French replaces it with the clitic pronoun y, which sits before the verb (or, with a positive imperative, attached to it).
— Tu vas à Paris cet été ? — Oui, j'y vais en juillet.
— Are you going to Paris this summer? — Yes, I'm going there in July.
Cette boulangerie est excellente — j'y achète mon pain tous les matins.
This bakery is excellent — I buy my bread there every morning.
On y est arrivés en retard à cause des embouteillages.
We arrived there late because of the traffic.
Je n'y ai jamais mis les pieds, mais ça a l'air sympa.
I've never set foot there, but it looks nice.
Y replaces any à-place complement (à Paris, à la maison) and most other place complements introduced by en, dans, sur, sous, chez. The exception is de-place complements, which are replaced by en (je viens de Paris → j'en viens).
— Tu reviens de Berlin ? — Oui, j'en reviens à l'instant.
— Are you coming back from Berlin? — Yes, I just got back.
Cette région, j'en parle souvent à mes amis — j'y ai grandi.
That region — I often talk about it with my friends. I grew up there.
The split is logical: y covers destinations and locations (à-, en-, dans-introduced); en covers origins and de-introduced place complements. Get this distinction right and your sentences immediately sound more native — French speakers use y and en constantly, and avoiding them produces stilted, repetitive prose.
Common Mistakes
The errors below are typical transfer errors from English. Each one is a wrong sentence followed by the corrected version.
❌ Je vais en Canada cet été.
Incorrect — Canada is masculine, so it takes au, not en.
✅ Je vais au Canada cet été.
I'm going to Canada this summer.
❌ J'habite à France depuis trois ans.
Incorrect — countries take en/au/aux, not à. À is reserved for cities.
✅ J'habite en France depuis trois ans.
I've been living in France for three years.
❌ Je vais à la maison de Marie ce soir.
Incorrect — for someone's home, French uses chez, not 'à la maison de.'
✅ Je vais chez Marie ce soir.
I'm going to Marie's tonight.
❌ — Tu vas à Lyon ? — Oui, je vais à Lyon demain.
Incorrect — once Lyon is in context, replace it with y. Repeating the place name sounds non-native.
✅ — Tu vas à Lyon ? — Oui, j'y vais demain.
— Are you going to Lyon? — Yes, I'm going there tomorrow.
❌ Je viens du France.
Incorrect — France is feminine, so origin is de France (no article), not du France.
✅ Je viens de France.
I'm from France.
The country-gender rule is worth memorizing as a small table: en with feminine, au with masculine, aux with plural — and the same pattern in reverse with de / du / des for origin. Once that table is automatic, the rest of the place-expression system is mostly intuitive.
Now practice French
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning French→Related Topics
- 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.
- 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'.
- Le Pronom YA2 — Y is the adverbial pronoun French uses to replace places (à Paris, chez Pierre, dans la cuisine) and inanimate à-complements (à mon travail, à la question). Why English has no equivalent, when y can and cannot replace à + something, and the high-frequency idioms (vas-y, ça y est, on y va) you must memorize.
- Le Pronom EnA2 — En is the adverbial pronoun French uses to replace de + thing, partitive du/de la/des + noun, quantifiers, and de + place of origin. Why English has no equivalent, what en covers (some / any / of it / about it / from there), and the crucial rule that quantifiers stay behind when en is used.
- Phrases avec Expressions de TempsA2 — Expressing time in French sentences — the position of time adverbs, the depuis/pendant/pour/il y a/dans system, and the trap that depuis takes the present tense for ongoing situations where English uses the perfect.
- Phrases Déclaratives: Affirmation et NégationA1 — The declarative sentence is the workhorse of French — the form for statements about the world. This page covers SVO word order, pronoun placement, negation in simple and compound tenses, and the position of adverbs and complements.