How to use the French preposition à
The preposition à in French has several common translations including “at”, “to” and “in”. The French preposition à has a very long list of meanings and has an extremely versatile list of usages. This page will examine the many ways to use à in French and provide examples.
Use à to express to or at
The most common usage of the preposition à is to mean “to” or “at” when following the verb aller (to go). When a is followed by le, la, les (the), a contraction must occur. For example, “Je vais au (à + le) magasin” (I go to the store).
This page covering the French articles covers these contractions in detail.
- Je vais à la plage. I’m going to the beach.
- Je vais au (à + le) marché. I’m going to the market.
- Je vais aux (à + les) États-Unis. I’m going to the United States.
Expressing distances
Use the preposition à for expressing distances. The grammatical structure is: à + distance + place.
- Nous habitons à trois heures de Paris. We live three hours from Paris.
- Elle habite à vingt-cinq kilomètres de Marseille. She lives 25 kilometers from Marseille.
In certain style or manner
The construction “à la” is used to express in a certain style or manner.
- Il cuisine à la francaise. He’s cooking French-style.
- Elle cuisine à l’anglais. She’s cooking English-style.
- Nous cuisinons à l’italienne. We’re cooking Italian-style.
See you at a certain future time
When preceding a time word such as demain (tomorrow), à translates to “see you”. À can also come before an hour of the day. For example, “À quinze heures!” means “See you at 3.00pm!”.
- à demain see you tomorrow
- à plus tard see you later
- à tout à l’heure see you later
- à lundi see you Monday
- à bientôt see you soon
- à la semaine prochaine see you next week
Ingredients in food items
When preceding a food or flavor, à indicates “having this ingredient”. This page covers food vocabulary in detail.
- La glace au chocolat Chocolate ice cream
- Un gateau à la vanille Vanilla cake
- Une tarte a la framboise Raspberry pie
Wearing clothes or accessories
When à precedes a item of clothing or accessory it means “wearing”, “in the” or “with”. This page covers French clothing vocabulary in detail.
- L’homme au chapeau noir the man wearing the black hat
- La femme à la chemise bleue The lady in the blue shirt
- La fille à la jupe rose. The girl with the pink skirt.
Measurement expressions
When expressing speed, “à l’heure” means per hour.
- faire du 50 à l’heure To drive 50km per hour
- acheter au kilo to buy by the kilo
How an item is used
When following crockery or kitchen utensils, à + usage target means “used for”. For example, un couteau (knife) à pain means a “bread knife”.
- une tasse à thé teacup
- un bol à soupe soup bowl
- une assiette à dessert a dessert plate
- une cuillère à soupe a soup spoon
- une fourchette à viande a fork for eating meat
Possession
When à precedes a person or stressed pronoun (me, you, him, her, etc.), the meaning is “belongs to”. This page covers stressed pronouns.
- La voiture est à Marc. Marc’s car
- La maison est à David. David’s house
- Le livre est à moi. The book is mine.
- Les skis sont à lui. The skis are his.
Modes of transportation
The preposition à is used for modes of transportation which you don’t climb into. For example, “Je vais à pied” means I’m going by foot. The preposition “en” is used for vehicles. For example, “Je vais en voiture” (I go by car).
- aller à bicyclette to go by bike
- aller à pied to go by foot
- aller à moto to go by motorbike
- aller à cheval to go by horse
How something is made or done
À + noun is used to indicate how something is done or made.
- fait à la main handmade
- écrire au stylo to write in pen
Nouns derived from verbs
À + time word can me “When I _”.
- à mon retour when I get back
- à mon arrivée when I return
Giving directions
Use à + right or left when giving directions in a taxi. For example, “Tournez à droite” (Take a right). This page covers taxi phrases. This page covers giving and asking directions.
- à droite to the right
- à gauche to the left
Many verbs are followed by à
French has many verbs which are followed by the preposition à. The structure is: “verb + à + infinitive”. For example, “Je continue à étudier” (I continue studying). This page offers a complete list of French verbs followed by à.
- chercher à comprendre to try to understand
- aider à to help
- arriver à to manage to
- continuer à to continue
- réussir à to succeed in
Common phrases
The French preposition à can also be found in countless phrases and expressions. While there’s no way to compile a master list, here’s a list of common phrases and expressions with à.
- à un moment donné at some point
- à tout prix at all costs
- à propos de regarding
- à la fois at the same time
- à distance remotely
- à haute voix aloud
- à emporter take away (meal)
- à côté next to
- à travers through
- à cause de because of
- à mon avis in my opinion
- à mon tour it’s my turn
- à partir de starting from
- à ce moment-là at that moment
- à ce propos in this respect
- à cette époque at that time period
Common expressions
- à la tienne Cheers!
- à votre santé to your health!
- à tes souhaits bless you!
- à la poubelle get rid of it!
- à suivre to be continued
- au feu! Fire!
- au fait by the way
- à propos by the way
Conclusion
As you have see, the preposition à in French a very wide variety of meanings and usages. We hope you’ve found this page helpful!
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