🇫🇷 French A1: Directions & Places in Town
Où est... ? - Prepositions of Place - Trilingual (French/English/عربي)
🗺️ Où est... ? — Directions & Places in Town
In this lesson you will learn the names of common places around town, how to ask where something is, and the prepositions of place (devant, derrière, à côté de...) you need to describe locations and give directions.
📖 Grammar Focus: à + le = au, de + le = du
Two prepositions you've already met — à (at/to) and de (of/from) — contract with the masculine article "le" to form new words. This happens constantly with places, since most place names need "à" or "de" before them.
| Original (incorrect) | Contracted (correct) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| à + le parc | au parc | to/at the park |
| à + les magasins | aux magasins | to/at the shops |
| de + le parc | du parc | from/of the park |
| à côté de + le musée | à côté du musée | next to the museum |
Important: "à la" and "de la" (feminine) and "à l'"/"de l'" (vowel-starting) never contract — only the masculine "le" and the plural "les" combine with à/de.
📖 Grammar Focus: Prepositions Followed by "de"
Several prepositions of place — à côté de, près de, loin de, en face de — are always followed by "de," which then may contract with "le" or "les" exactly as shown above. A common beginner mistake is forgetting the "de" entirely: "à côté la banque" is incorrect; it must be "à côté de la banque."
💬 Sample Dialogue
🎯 Flashcards
Click each card to flip it and reveal the English and Arabic translation. Click again to flip back.
❓ Quick Quiz
Answer one question at a time. You'll see right away if you got it right, then move to the next.
📝 Practice Exams — 5 Exams, 50 Questions Total
Each exam has 10 questions, answered one at a time with instant feedback. Exam 5 is a comprehensive mixed review. Choose an exam below to begin.
💡 Tips & Cultural Notes
Expert teacher notes to help you sound more natural and avoid common beginner mistakes.
⚠️ Common Mistake: forgetting the contraction
Beginners often say "à le parc" or "de le musée," forgetting that à and de MUST contract with "le" to become "au" and "du." These contractions are mandatory, not optional — "à le" and "de le" are simply incorrect French.
⚠️ Common Mistake: dropping "de" after compound prepositions
"À côté," "près," "loin," and "en face" all require "de" before the place name. Saying "à côté la banque" instead of "à côté de la banque" is a very common error — always check that the "de" is there.
🇫🇷 Formal vs informal direction-giving
"Tournez à droite" uses the formal/plural vous form, appropriate for asking a stranger on the street. With a friend, you'd use "tourne à droite" instead — the same tu/vous distinction you learned all the way back in Lesson 1 applies here too.
🗣️ Liaison tip: "C'est loin d'ici ?"
"D'ici" is the contraction of "de ici" — French never lets two vowel sounds collide, so "de" drops its vowel before another vowel, just like "l'eau" or "j'ai" you've seen in earlier lessons.
📌 Practice describing your own neighborhood
A great way to lock in prepositions of place is to describe real locations near you: "La banque est à côté de la pharmacie" or "L'école est en face du parc." Using real, familiar places makes the prepositions stick far better than abstract examples.