A preposition is a word used to establish relationships between nouns, between nouns and verbs and between different parts of a sentence.

Transcription

1 Prepositions Introduction A preposition is a word used to establish relationships between nouns, between nouns and verbs and between different parts of a sentence. Prepositions usually have spatial or temporal meanings (e.g. beneath, between, in front of, before, after, during, etc). Prepositions are invariable, that is, they have one form with the exception of à and de which contract with the definite articles ( le, la, les ). Translating prepositions is notoriously tricky. Never assume that French will use the same preposition as English to express a particular meaning. In fact, there are many cases where one language requires a preposition where the other does not. This is particularly problematic with infinitives followed by prepositions. In general, it is best to treat prepositions as vocabulary items requiring memorization. Simple Prepositions À = to, in, at: e.g., Je vais à l'école/j'habite à Dublin/Je travaille à 9 heures Après = after: e.g., Je sortirai après les cours Avec = with: e.g., Je ne pars plus en vacances avec mes parents Chez = at the house of: e.g., Il habite chez ses parents Contre = against: e.g., Nous avons joué contre l'équipe des seniors Dans = in (inside): e.g., J'ai laissé mon sac dans la voiture De = of, from, about: e.g., Je viens de Paris/Nous avons parlé de nos vacances Depuis = since, for: e.g., Je le connais depuis 10 ans Derrière = behind: e.g., Nous habitons derrière la mairie Devant = in front of: e.g., La voiture est garée devant le cinéma En = in, into, by, on: e.g., Je voyage souvent en avion / Il a vécu en France

2 En = in, into, by, on: e.g., Je voyage souvent en avion / Il a vécu en France Entre = between: e.g., Je te téléphonerai entre 10 et 11 heures Malgré = in spite of, despite: e.g., Nous sommes sortis malgré la pluie Par = through, by: e.g., J'ai lancé la balle par la fenêtre Pour = for: e.g., Ce cadeau est pour toi Pendant = During Près de = near to Sans = without: e.g., Je suis parti sans argent Sauf = except: e.g., J'ai lu tous les ro ans de Stephen King sauf "Misery" Sous = under: e.g., Le chien est couché sous la table Sur = on: e.g., Tes clés sont sur les étagères Vers = towards: e.g., Nous avons marché vers la plage Compound Prepositions Au dessus de = above: e.g., Il est au dessus de tous soupçons En face de = opposite: e.g., Nous avons habité en face de l'église Au lieu de = instead of: e.g., Je suis sorti au lieu d'aller à l'entraînement Le long de = along: e.g., J'aime marcher le long de la Seine à Paris A cause de = because of: e.g., Il ne peut pas sortir à cause de son rhume A côté de = beside: e.g., Elle s'est assise à côté de moi Grace à = thanks to Jusqu'à = until The preposition 'à' (to, at or in) When you want to use this preposition with the definite article 'the', there are four forms:

3 à + le = au à + la = à la à + l' = à l' à + les = aux Contradictions of 'à' and 'de' with Definite Article The prepositions à or de contract with the definite articles le and les to give the following forms: De + le = du À + le = au De + les = des À + les = aux Prepositions with Infinitives The infinitive is the verb form generally used after a preposition in French. À (to) and de (from, about) are the most common prepositions in French. In many expressions, the choice of the preposition à or de before an infinitive is purely idiomatic; that is, it is unrelated to meaning. In such cases, one must memorize which preposition is used. À + infitinitve: aider à, to help to encourager à, to encourage to s'amuser à, to have fun at s'habituer à, to get used to apprendre à, to learn to hésiter à, to hesitate to arriver à, to succeed in, to manage to inviter à, to invite to s'attendre à, to expect to se mettre à, to start to avoir du mal à, to find it difficult to se préparer à, to prepare to chercher à, to try to, to attempt to renoncer à, to give up commencer à, to start to réussir à, to succeed at continuer à/de, to continue to servir à, to be used for

4 servir à, to be used for se décider à, to make up one's mind to tenir à, to be anxious to, to be eager to Depuis vs. Il y a, que, ça fait etc. Depuis To indicate the starting date or duration of an action or situation which is still going on in the present, use the preposition depuis + a time expression. Note that depuis can mean two different things in English. When depuis is followed by a length of time, as in the first example below, it indicates duration and is translated into English by 'for'. When depuis is followed by a date or a point in time, as in the second example, it indicates the starting point and is translated by 'since'. il y a que, ça fait que, voilà que These all express duration only. Unlike depuis, they are always used at the start of a sentence. Although il y a que and ça fait que may occasionally be found in the future ( il y aura que, ça fera que ), the subordinate clause introduced by que is never in the future. It remains in the present. For example: Il y aura deux ans demain que je connais Tammy = It will be two years tomorrow that I have known Tammy. "For": Depuis, Pendant, Pour There are three prepositions in French, depuis, pendant and pour, that are translated as 'for' and are used to indicate the duration of an event. Depuis If an event began in the past and is continuing into the present, use 'depuis' with the present tense. For example: Tex et moi sommes ensemble depuis un an. Pendant

5 Pendant Pendant literally means 'during', but it is usually best expressed in English as 'for' plus a certain amount of time. It canbe used with all tenses. For example: Pour Je parle avec Eamonn pendant une heure The preposition pour is used in a variety of contexts. When translated as 'for' in English, it may designate the duration of a future event with the verbs partir and aller. Note that the verb may be conjugated in either the present or future tense. Nous allons chex moi pour deuz semianes.