French Geographical Prepositions

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Published July 13, 2015 • Updated July 6, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson, teaching French online since 2014

In French, geographical prepositions for countries, cities, states and provinces can be difficult. In a nutshell, use au for many masculine places, en for feminine places, aux for plural places and à for cities. The rule changes with the verb visiter (to visit). With visiter, you usually do not use a preposition.

✅ Aller, voyager and habiter
✅ Country prepositions
✅ State, region and province prepositions
✅ Using visiter with places
✅ Prepositions for cities

Aller, voyager and habiter

Use this chart with aller (to go), voyager (to travel) and habiter (to live). These verbs are often used when talking about where someone goes, travels or lives.

For countries, states and provinces, the preposition usually depends on gender and number. For cities, the usual preposition is à.

Geographical prepositions for countries, states and provinces

Verbs aller, voyager and habiter

In this first section, we’ll look at the prepositions associated with the verbs aller (to go), voyager (to travel) and habiter (to live), as we often talk about where we go, travel and live.

For these three verbs, the rule for geographical prepositions is as follows:

au + masculine country, state or province
en + feminine country, state or province
aux + plural country, state or province
en + masculine country, state or province starting with a vowel

Before we go any further, let’s take a very quick look at au. Au is a contraction of the preposition à (to/at) and the definite article le (the).

à + le = au

For example, le Canada is masculine. Therefore, we say:

Je vais au Canada.
I am going to Canada.

Country prepositions

All countries in French have a gender or number. Many countries are masculine or feminine, and some countries are plural. Countries are often preceded by a definite article.

la France
France

le Canada
Canada

l’Iran
Iran

les États-Unis
the United States

A useful rule of thumb is that many feminine countries end in the letter -e. For example, la France, l’Espagne and l’Italie are feminine.

However, there are exceptions. For example, le Mexique is masculine, even though it ends in -e.

Here are examples using aller, voyager and habiter.

Je vais/voyage/habite en France.
I go/travel/live in or to France.

Je vais/voyage/habite au Canada.
I go/travel/live in or to Canada.

Je vais/voyage/habite aux États-Unis.
I go/travel/live in or to the United States.

Masculine countries starting with a vowel

Masculine countries normally take au. However, masculine countries starting with a vowel usually take en.

l’Iran
Iran

l’Irak
Iraq

Israël
Israel

Examples:

Je vais/voyage/habite en Iran.
I go/travel/live in or to Iran.

Je vais/voyage/habite en Irak.
I go/travel/live in or to Iraq.

State prepositions

For states in the United States, the same basic preposition rules apply. In general, states ending in -a or -ia, such as la Floride and la Californie, are feminine. Many states ending in a consonant, such as le Texas, are masculine.

Examples:

Je vais/voyage/habite en Californie.
I go/travel/live in or to California.

Je vais/voyage/habite en Floride.
I go/travel/live in or to Florida.

Je vais/voyage/habite au Texas.
I go/travel/live in or to Texas.

Masculine states starting with a vowel take en.

Je vais/voyage/habite en Alaska.
I go/travel/live in or to Alaska.

Some masculine states can also take dans le.

Je vais/voyage/habite dans le Maine.
I go/travel/live in or to Maine.

Regions and departments of France

These same preposition rules also apply to many regions and departments in France.

Je vais/voyage/habite en Bretagne.
I go/travel/live in or to Brittany.

Je vais/voyage/habite au Pays de la Loire.
I go/travel/live in or to the Pays de la Loire region.

Some masculine regions and departments can also take dans le.

Je vais/voyage/habite dans le Nord.
I go/travel/live in or to the Nord department.

Canadian province prepositions

The same basic rules apply to Canadian provinces. Two of the most populated provinces are le Québec and l’Ontario. British Columbia is feminine: la Colombie-Britannique.

Examples:

Je vais/voyage/habite en Colombie-Britannique.
I go/travel/live in or to British Columbia.

Je vais/voyage/habite au Québec.
I go/travel/live in or to Quebec.

Je vais/voyage/habite en Ontario.
I go/travel/live in or to Ontario.

Here are the Canadian provinces and territories with their French names.

Island countries and states

Many island countries and states used without an article take the preposition à with aller, voyager and habiter.

Je vais/voyage/habite à Cuba.
I go/travel/live in or to Cuba.

Je vais/voyage/habite à Hawaï.
I go/travel/live in or to Hawaii.

However, not all island names follow this pattern. Some follow the regular country or region rules.

Je vais en Irlande.
I am going to Ireland.

Je vais en Corse.
I am going to Corsica.

Je vais aux Philippines.
I am going to the Philippines.

Visiter

Use this chart with visiter (to visit). Unlike aller, voyager and habiter, the verb visiter is followed directly by the place.

For countries, states and provinces, use the definite article: le, la, l’ or les. For most cities and many island names, no preposition is used.

Verb visiter

When using the verb visiter (to visit), the preposition rule changes. With visiter, no preposition is required before countries, states, provinces, islands or cities.

For countries, states and provinces, use the definite article le, la, l’ or les, depending on gender and number.

Je visite la France.
I visit France.

Je visite le Canada.
I visit Canada.

Je visite l’Iran.
I visit Iran.

Je visite les États-Unis.
I visit the United States.

When talking about many island names, no preposition or article is required.

Je visite Cuba.
I visit Cuba.

Je visite Hawaï.
I visit Hawaii.

Prepositions for cities

For the verbs aller, voyager and habiter, cities take the preposition à.

Je vais/voyage/habite à Paris.
I go/travel/live in or to Paris.

Je vais/voyage/habite à Londres.
I go/travel/live in or to London.

Je vais/voyage/habite à New York.
I go/travel/live in or to New York City.

Cities with definite articles

Some cities take a definite article. Two common examples are La Nouvelle-Orléans and Le Caire.

With aller, voyager and habiter, keep the article.

Je vais/voyage/habite à La Nouvelle-Orléans.
I go/travel/live in or to New Orleans.

Je vais/voyage/habite au Caire.
I go/travel/live in or to Cairo.

Quebec City, Washington DC and New York

Quebec City, Washington DC and New York are interesting cases because they share their names with a province or state.

Je vais à Québec.
I am going to Quebec City.

Je vais au Québec.
I am going to the province of Quebec.

J’habite à Québec.
I live in Quebec City.

J’habite au Québec.
I live in the province of Quebec.

Je vais à Washington.
I am going to Washington, DC.

Je vais dans l’État de Washington.
I am going to Washington State.

J’habite à Washington.
I live in Washington, DC.

J’habite dans l’État de Washington.
I live in Washington State.

Je vais à New York.
I am going to New York City.

Je vais dans l’État de New York.
I am going to New York State.

J’habite à New York.
I live in New York City.

J’habite dans l’État de New York.
I live in New York State.

Visiter with cities

When using visiter with cities, no preposition is required.

Je visite Paris.
I visit Paris.

Je visite Londres.
I visit London.

Je visite New York.
I visit New York City.

For cities with a definite article, keep the article.

Je visite La Nouvelle-Orléans.
I visit New Orleans.

Je visite Le Caire.
I visit Cairo.

Common mistake

Do not use the same structure with visiter and aller.

Correct:

Je vais en France.
I am going to France.

Je visite la France.
I visit France.

Incorrect:

Je visite en France.

Correct:

Je vais à Paris.
I am going to Paris.

Je visite Paris.
I visit Paris.

Incorrect:

Je visite à Paris.

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David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012.

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