By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say you're going to the cinema, the park or the beach, and join à and de correctly to the words for "the".
Two words that melt together
You've used à with towns and cities, as in the lesson on faire and aller: Je vais à Nantes. To go to a place like the cinema, you need à and also a word for "the", from the lesson on le, la and les.
The trouble is that French doesn't allow à le or à les. Those pairs always melt into a single word. The feminine la and the shortened l' don't cause any change, so they stay separate.
À with the article
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| au | oh | to the, at the (à + le)au cinéma |
| à la | ah lah | to the, at the (feminine)à la piscine |
| à l' | ah l | to the, at the (before a vowel or silent h)à l'école |
| aux | oh | to the, at the (à + les)aux États-Unis |
Only two forms are new: à + le = au, and à + les = aux. Au and aux sound the same, and the x of aux links with a z sound before a vowel, as in aux États-Unis.
Here are some places to practise with. Pay attention to the articles, which decide what happens.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le cinéma | luh see-nay-MAH | the cinema |
| le parc | luh PARK | the park |
| le musée | luh mew-ZAY | the museum |
| le restaurant | luh res-toh-RAHN | the restaurant |
| le travail | luh trah-VAH-y | work |
| la piscine | lah pee-SEEN | the swimming pool |
| la plage | lah PLAHZH | the beach |
| l'école | lay-KOHL | the school |
| l'hôtel | loh-TEL | the hotel |
| les États-Unis | lay-zay-tah-zew-NEE | the United States |
| la porte | lah PORT | the door |
| le prix | luh PREE | the price |
| le billet | luh bee-YEH | the ticket |
Elle va au musée.
She's going to the museum.
On va à la piscine ?
Shall we go to the pool?
Je vais à l'hôtel.
I'm going to the hotel.
Vous allez aux États-Unis ?
Are you going to the United States?
À also means "at" or "in" a place, so the same forms work for where you are: Il travaille au restaurant (He works at the restaurant).
De with the article
De can mean "of", "from" or "about". It works just like à: it melts together with le and les, and leaves la and l' alone.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| du | dew | of the, from the, about the (de + le)du film |
| de la | duh lah | of the, from the, about the (feminine)de la musique |
| de l' | duh l | of the, from the, about the (before a vowel or silent h)de l'hôtel |
| des | day | of the, from the, about the (de + les)des billets |
Only two forms are new here too: de + le = du, and de + les = des.
Je rentre du travail.
I'm coming home from work.
C'est la porte de la maison.
That's the door of the house.
Nous parlons de l'école.
We're talking about school.
Le prix des billets, c'est trente euros.
The price of the tickets is thirty euros.
Which des is this?
You already know a des that means "some", as in des livres, and it looks exactly like this one. The context tells you which is which. After a word like le prix or parler, it's normally de + les. In front of a noun you're just introducing, it means "some". You don't need to think much about it, because they're spelled the same way.
No contraction with people's names
These changes only happen with the articles le and les. Names don't have an article, so nothing changes: Je parle à Paul, le livre de Marc.
Putting it together
Here's an exchange about weekend plans. Every sentence uses a form from this lesson.
- Tu vas à la plage ? (Are you going to the beach?)
- Non, je vais au cinéma. Et toi ? (No, I'm going to the cinema. And you?)
- Je rentre de l'école, et je vais au parc. (I'm coming back from school, and I'm going to the park.)
To choose the right form, ask one question: what would the article be? If you'd say le cinéma, it's au cinéma. If you'd say la plage, it's à la plage.
What's next
Next, the lesson on hobbies and sports uses these forms in phrases like jouer au foot and jouer du piano. Later on, the lesson on du, de la and des introduces a different use of the same words, and the lesson on places in town adds many more places to go.