Question

French Mini-Tutorial: Prepositions and Geographical Locations

Answer 1

\({\bf{Genders~of~Locations:}}\) there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding how different continents/countries/cities, etc. are gendered, but there are a few general patterns that they follow:

- locations ending in -e are typically feminine, ex: La France, La Belgique, La Turquie. of course, there are exceptions like Le Mexique, which is masculine.
- locations not ending in -e are typically masculine, ex: L'Arabie saoudite, Le Canada, L'Iran
- continents are usually feminine, ex: L'Afrique, L'Asie, L'Amérique du Nord/du Sud
- U.S. states are usually masculine, ex: Le Delaware, Le Maine, with some exceptions, ex: La Californie, La Floride

Answer 2

\({\bf{Prepositions~with~Locations:}}\)

- cities/islands/island-based countries/cities

à: to/in
de/d': from

examples:
Je suis en vacances à Hawaii. (I am vacationing in Hawaii.)
Ils viennent de paris. (They are from Paris.)

- masculine locations (that do not start w/ vowel/muet h/other vowel sounds)

au/aux: to/in
du/des: from

Je travaille au Pakistan. (I work in Pakistan)
Je rentre du Cameroun. (I am returning from Cameroon)

additionally, dans le/l' (to/in) and du/de l' (from) may be used for masculine states/provinces

Frankfort est dans le Kentucky. (Frankfort is in Kentucky)
Quand revenez-vous de l'Alberta? (When are you returning from Alberta?)

- masculine locations (that start w/ vowel/muet h/other vowel sounds)

en: to/in
d': from

Je vis en Haïti. (I live in Haiti)
Mon correspondant est originaire d'Irak. (My penpal is from Iraq.)

- feminine locations

en: to/in
de/d': from (do not include the article)

ex:
Il enseigne en Chine. (He teaches in China.)
Le sac est importé de Belgique. (The purse is imported from Belgium).

Answer 3

special note: Israel (Israël) is a masculine country name but does not take definite articles. WIth regards to prepositions, it falls under the category of "masculine name that starts with a vowel sound)

Answer 4

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 125-128.

https://www.thoughtco.com/french-vocabulary-countries-nationalities-and-languages-4079488
https://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/french-vocabulary/united-states-french/

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers