Au, aux, à la and à l’ in French: how à contracts with articles

French never says à le or à les. When à meets the definite articles le and les, they contract: à + le becomes au, and à + les becomes aux. With la and l', there is no contraction: à la and à l’ stay separate. That is why you say au café, à la gare, à l’école and aux toilettes.

The contraction is required

Au and aux are not optional shortcuts. They are the normal written and spoken forms whenever à is followed by le or les.

Je vais au cinéma. Nous parlons aux enfants.
I am going to the cinema. We are talking to the children.

The full forms à le cinéma and à les enfants are incorrect in standard French.

À la and à l’ do not contract

With feminine singular nouns, keep à la. Before a vowel sound or silent h, use à l'.

Elle est à la gare. Il habite à l’hôtel.
She is at the station. He lives at the hotel.

The article still tells you the gender and sound pattern of the noun: masculine singular usually gives au, feminine singular gives à la, and vowel-starting singular gives à l'.

Places: to, at or in

English changes between “to”, “at” and sometimes “in”, but French often keeps the same à pattern with places.

The exact English preposition depends on the sentence. The French contraction depends on the article that follows à.

When there is no article

Some place names use à without an article, especially cities. Then there is nothing to contract.

J’habite à Paris. Elle va à Lyon.
I live in Paris. She is going to Lyon.

Country names have their own preposition patterns, so treat those as a separate topic. The rule here is just the contraction: à + le = au, à + les = aux.

Common mistakes

Writing à le or à les

French contracts these forms every time.

Je vais à le restaurant. → Je vais au restaurant.
I am going to the restaurant.

Using au with a feminine noun

If the noun takes la, the result is à la, not au.

Je suis au gare. → Je suis à la gare.
I am at the station.

Forgetting à l’ before a vowel

Before a vowel sound, the singular article becomes l', so keep à l'.

Il va au école. → Il va à l’école.
He is going to school.

The same noun-gender habit that helps with le and la also tells you whether à becomes au, à la or à l'. In Fluera you meet places inside short travel and daily-life sentences, so the contraction is tied to a real phrase instead of a chart. Try it when you practice French.

Practice