Prepositions

Overview

Welcome to your deep dive into French prepositions, a fundamental area of the AQA GCSE French specification (3.1.1.5). While they may seem like small words, prepositions are the glue that holds sentences together, and using them accurately is one of the clearest indicators of grammatical competence. Examiners are trained to look for correct preposition usage as a key differentiator between a good candidate and a great one. A strong command of prepositions directly impacts your AO3 mark (range and accuracy of language), which accounts for a massive 50% of your total marks in the Speaking and Writing papers. This guide will equip you with the specific knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of prepositions of place, time, and those that follow specific verbs, ensuring you can write and speak with confidence and precision.

Key Prepositional Concepts

Geographical Prepositions

One of the most frequently tested areas is the use of prepositions with geographical locations. The choice of preposition depends on the type of place (city, continent, country) and, for countries, its gender.

Key Rules:

• Cities: Always use à. (e.g., à Paris, à Manchester)
• Feminine Countries: Use en. Most countries ending in '-e' are feminine. (e.g., en France, en Espagne, en Allemagne)
• Masculine Countries: Use au. (e.g., au Portugal, au Canada, au Japon)
• Masculine Countries (starting with a vowel): Use en. (e.g., en Iran)
• Plural Countries: Use aux. (e.g., aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas)

Prepositions of Time

Indicating when something happens requires careful selection of prepositions. The distinction between pendant, pour, and depuis is a common source of error for candidates.

• pendant: Used for a completed action in the past with a specific duration. (e.g., J'ai regardé la télé pendant deux heures. - I watched TV for two hours.)
• pour: Used to indicate the duration of a future plan. (e.g., Je vais en France pour une semaine. - I'm going to France for a week.)
• depuis: Used for an action that started in the past and is still ongoing. Crucially, this is used with the present tense in French. (e.g., J'habite à Londres depuis cinq ans. - I have been living in London for five years.)

Verb + Preposition Combinations

Many French verbs require a specific preposition before a following verb or noun. These must be memorized as they often don't translate literally from English. Credit is given for using these structures correctly as they demonstrate a higher level of grammatical control.

Common Pairs:

• Verbs + à: aider à (to help to), commencer à (to start to), réussir à (to succeed in), jouer à (to play a sport/game).
• Verbs + de: arrêter de (to stop doing), décider de (to decide to), essayer de (to try to), finir de (to finish doing), oublier de (to forget to), jouer de (to play an instrument).

Second-Order Concepts

Causation

Why do these rules exist? They are the result of centuries of linguistic evolution in the French language. The gender of countries, for instance, is a historical remnant from Latin, and the verb + preposition pairings are idiomatic structures that have become fixed over time. Understanding that these are not random, but part of a system, helps in their memorization.

Change & Continuity

While the core rules of prepositions have remained stable for a long time, language is always evolving. You might hear native speakers occasionally bend these rules in informal speech. However, for your AQA exam, you must stick to the formal, grammatically correct structures. The rules outlined here represent the continuity of standard French grammar that is expected by examiners.