French Prepositions with Cities and Islands

Young couple looking at map at Notre Dame Paris

Chris Tobin / Getty Images

Unlike most geographical names, the gender of an island (whether it's a state, province, or country) or a city does not affect which preposition must be used.

Prepositions

The prepositions à and de (or d') are always used with cities and singular islands, while aux and des are used with plural islands.

To / In From

city or singular island: à de / d'
plural islands: aux des

Examples

City   

J'habite à Paris.
Je suis de Paris.

Singular Island

Je vais à Hawaï.
Je suis d'Hawaï.

Plural Island

Je vais aux Îles Cook.
Je suis des Îles Cook.

Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Team, ThoughtCo. "French Prepositions with Cities and Islands." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/french-prepositions-cities-and-islands-4084857. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). French Prepositions with Cities and Islands. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-prepositions-cities-and-islands-4084857 Team, ThoughtCo. "French Prepositions with Cities and Islands." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-prepositions-cities-and-islands-4084857 (accessed March 28, 2024).