À vs De
French prepositions
The French prepositions à and de cause constant problems for French students. Generally speaking, à means to, at, or in, while de means of or from. Both prepositions have numerous uses - this summary table compares them.
| À | vs | De | ||
| Location or destination | vs | Starting point or origin (Learn more) | ||
| Je vais à Rome | I'm going to Rome | partir de Nice | to leave from (out of) Nice | |
| Je suis à la banque | I'm at the bank | Je suis de Bruxelles | I'm from Brussels | |
| Distance in time or space (note that à is used in front of the distance, while de indicates the starting point/origin) | ||||
| Il habite à 10 mètres... | He lives 10 meters... | ...d'ici | ...from here | |
| C'est à 5 minutes... | It's 5 minutes... | ...de moi | ...from me | |
| Possession | vs | Possession / belonging (Learn more) | ||
| un ami à moi | a friend of mine | le livre de Paul | Paul's book | |
| Ce livre est à Jean | This is Jean's book | le café de l'université | the university café | |
| Purpose or use | vs | Contents / description | ||
| une tasse à thé | teacup (cup for tea) | une tasse de thé | cup of tea | |
| une boîte à allumettes | matchbox (box for matches) | une boîte d'allumettes | box (full) of matches | |
| un sac à dos | backpack (pack for the back) | un roman d'amour | love story (story about love) | |
| Manner, style, or characteristic | vs | Defining feature | ||
| fait à la main | made by hand | le marché de gros | wholesale market | |
| Il habite à la française | He lives in the French style | une salle de classe | classroom | |
| un enfant aux yeux bleus | blue-eyed child | un livre d'histoire | history book | |
| Defining ingredient | Indispensible ingredient | |||
| Use à when the food is made with something that can be taken away without destroying it - as a general rule, you can translate it as "with." If you take out the ham or onion, you still have a sandwich or soup. | Use de when the food is made primarily of something - generally speaking, you can translate it as "of" or "from." If you take away the blackcurrants or tomatoes, you're left with not much at all. | |||
| un sandwich au jambon | ham sandwich | la crème de cassis | blackcurrant liqueur | |
| la soupe à l'oignon | onion soup | la soupe de tomates | tomato soup | |
| une tarte aux pommes | apple pie | le jus d'orange | orange juice | |
| Impersonal expressions: Real subject | Impersonal expressions: Dummy subject | |||
| C'est bon à savoir. | That's good to know. | Il est bon d'étudier. | It's good to study. (Studying is good) | |
| C'est facile à faire. | That's easy to do. | Il est facile de le trouver. | It's easy to find it. (Finding it is easy) | |
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| Additional uses of à | Additional uses of de | |||
| Measurement | Cause | |||
| acheter au kilo | to buy by the kilogram | mourir de faim | to die of / from hunger | |
| payer à la semaine | to pay by the week | fatigué du voyage | tired from the trip | |
| Point in time | Means / manner of doing something | |||
| Nous arrivons à 5h00 | We arrive at 5:00 | écrire de la main gauche | to write with the left hand | |
| Il est mort à 92 ans | He died at the age of 92 | répéter de mémoire | to recite from memory | |
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