Prepositions with countries and cities: à, en, au, aux

Elle habite à Paris, mais elle vient du Canada.She lives in Paris, but she comes from Canada.

Talking about being in, going to, or coming from a place needs a different preposition depending on whether it's a city or a country — and for countries, on the country's gender and number. Cities keep it simple: à, no article, for almost every one of them. Countries split three ways: en, au, or aux, matching the noun's gender and number the same way an article would.

Quick shortcut: à + most cities (no article) · en + feminine country or masculine country starting with a vowel sound (no article) · au + consonant-initial masculine country · aux + plural country.

Cities: à, no article

For most city names — the ones with no built-in article — use à, no article:

• Je travaille à Berlin. (I work in Berlin.)
• Nous allons à Rome cet été. (We're going to Rome this summer.)
• Elle est née à New York. (She was born in New York.)

A handful of city names carry a built-in article that stays in place — Le Caire, La Havane, Le Havre. Only le contracts with à, giving au: au Caire, au Havre. Before la, à stays unchanged: à La Havane. Any other city takes a bare à.

Countries: en, au, or aux

For a country, the preposition tracks its gender and number, the same information you'd need to pick the right article for it:

• Elle passe ses vacances en Espagne. (She's spending her holidays in Spain.)
• Il travaille en Iran depuis deux ans. (He's been working in Iran for two years.)
• Nous allons au Mexique en avril. (We're going to Mexico in April.)
• Ils vivent aux États-Unis. (They live in the United States.)

Most country names ending in -e are feminine (la France, la Chine, la Belgique), which is why en is by far the most common of the three — but a few common exceptions stay masculine despite the -e ending: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Zimbabwe. Learn a country's gender along with its name rather than relying on the spelling alone.

Saying "from": de, d', du, des

The same four-way split reappears for "from" — and it lines up with the à/de contraction pattern you already know, just applied to place names instead of ordinary nouns:

• Je viens de Lyon. (I come from Lyon.)
• Ce fromage vient de France. (This cheese comes from France.)
• Elle rentre du Portugal demain. (She's coming back from Portugal tomorrow.)
• Ils sont arrivés des Pays-Bas hier. (They arrived from the Netherlands yesterday.)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je vais en Paris. → ✅ Je vais à Paris. (most cities take à, not en)
• ❌ Elle habite à France. → ✅ Elle habite en France. (a feminine country needs en, not bare à)
• ❌ Il travaille en Canada. → ✅ Il travaille au Canada. (a consonant-initial masculine country needs au, not en)
• ❌ Nous allons au États-Unis. → ✅ Nous allons aux États-Unis. (a plural country needs aux, not au)
• ❌ Elle vient de Japon. → ✅ Elle vient du Japon. (de + le must contract to du, same as anywhere else)

Quick check

Fill in the right preposition:

1. Il habite ____ Londres.
2. Nous partons ____ Sénégal la semaine prochaine.
3. Elle est née ____ Argentine.
4. Ils reviennent ____ (from) Philippines.
5. Tu vas ____ Brésil cette année ?

Key takeaways

• Most cities take à (or de for "from"), with no article; a few keep a built-in article — only le contracts with à/de (au Havre, du Havre), while la never does (à La Havane).
• Feminine countries and masculine countries starting with a vowel sound take en (or de / d' for "from"), also with no article.
• Consonant-initial masculine countries take au (or du for "from"), the contracted form of à / de + le.
• Plural countries take aux (or des for "from"), the contracted form of à / de + les.
• Most -e-ending countries are feminine, but le Mexique, le Cambodge and le Zimbabwe are common exceptions — learn each country's gender with its name.