Français II – Geographic Articles & Prepositions

Definite Articles with Geographical Names

• Always required before names of geographical entities (continents, countries, states, rivers, mountains, etc.)

  • Determiners: le, la, l', les

• Gender rule for countries

  • Feminine: most countries that end in -e

  • Ex: la France, la Belgique, la Chine

  • Masculine: most others

  • Key exception: Le Mexique (ends in –e but masculine)

• Plural geographical entities retain plural article

  • Ex: Les États-Unis, Les Pays-Bas

• Examples

  • (\text{L'Ohio est un bel état.})

  • (\text{J'aime la France.})

  • (\text{Le Mexique est un pays pauvre.})

  • (\text{Les États-Unis sont notre pays.})

• Countries that NEVER take a definite article (zero article)

  • Israël, Cuba, Haïti, Porto Rico

Cities and Determiners

• General rule: no article with cities

  • Ex: J'aime Paris.

  • Ex: Cleveland n'est pas une belle ville.

• Fixed exceptions (article always present)

  • La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans)

  • Le Havre (French port city)

  • La Rochelle (French Atlantic city)

  • Le Caire (Cairo, Egypt)

  • La Havane (Havana, Cuba)

Prepositions for Geographic Locations

(Used for expressing “to / at / in,” “from,” or “of.”)

Masculine Singular Country / State / Province, etc.

• To / At / In → au

• From     → du

• Of      → du

Masculine Plural

• To / At / In → aux

• From     → des

• Of      → des

Feminine Country / State & ALL Continents

• To / At / In → en

• From     → de

• Of      → de la

• When followed by a vowel sound → d' / de l'

Masculine Beginning with a Vowel

• Same pattern as feminine & continents (to avoid hiatus)

  • To / At / In → en

  • From / Of  → d' / de l'

City

• To / At / In → à

• From / Of → de

  • If the city begins with a vowel → d'

Quick Reference Examples

• (\text{Je vais au Canada.})

• (\text{Ils viennent du Brésil.})

• (\text{Nous habitons en France.})

• (\text{Elle revient d'Italie.})

• (\text{Je suis né aux États-Unis.})

• (\text{Il rentre des Pays-Bas.})

• (\text{On voyage à Tokyo.})

• (\text{Ils reviennent de Paris.})

These bullet-point notes consolidate all rules and examples from the transcript so you can quickly identify (1) when a definite article is required, (2) how to choose the correct article based on gender, number, or phonetics, and (3) which preposition to use for motion or origin with each category of geographic name.