Module 7 of 10
Where things are
Eight prepositions that answer almost every où question.
Most of these are a single word dropped in front of the thing: sur, sous, dans, devant, derrière, entre. Two of them end in de and therefore have a trap in them — à côté de and en face de — because de plus le contracts to du, and de plus les contracts to des. À côté du restaurant, en face des magasins, but à côté de la banque, because de la does not contract. That contraction is the same machinery you will meet again with à in the next course, so it is worth getting right once here.
In Hindi and Punjabi these relationships are carried by a postposition after the noun — मेज़ पर, ਮੇਜ਼ ਉੱਤੇ — and in French they come before it, like English. The order is the easy part. The part worth drilling is the de contraction, because it is invisible when you think the sentence in your own language and only appears when you write it down.
Played by your device’s own French voice. It is a synthetic voice, not a recording of a teacher — close enough to learn the shape of a word, not close enough to copy exactly.
- Sur la tableOn the table
- Sous la tableUnder the table
- Dans la chambreIn the bedroom
- Devant la porteIn front of the door
- Derrière la maisonBehind the house
- À côté de la banqueNext to the bank
- En face de la gareOpposite the station
- Entre la banque et la posteBetween the bank and the post office
Most prepositions sit in front of the thing. The ones ending in de contract: de + le = du, de + les = des, and de la never changes.