French prepositions of place: dans, sur, sous, devant and more

Prepositions of place tell you where something is. The most common ones are dans (in), sur (on), sous (under), devant (in front of), derrière (behind), entre (between), à côté de (next to), près de (near), loin de (far from) and chez (at someone’s place). Most are a single word you put before the noun: le livre est sur la table (“the book is on the table”). A few end in de, and that de contracts with le and les — that is the one rule worth getting right early.

The “de” prepositions and their contraction

Several place prepositions are built with de: à côté de (next to), près de (near), loin de (far from), en face de (opposite), au-dessus de (above), au-dessous de (below). When de meets the articles le or les, it contracts — exactly the same merge you meet with de + des.

La pharmacie est à côté du supermarché.
The pharmacy is next to the supermarket.

Chez: “at someone’s place”

Chez has no clean English word. It means “at the home, shop, or place of” a person, and it is always followed by a person or a profession, never a building.

Je suis chez moi. On va chez le médecin.
I’m at home. We’re going to the doctor’s.

Say chez Marie (“at Marie’s“), chez le coiffeur (“at the hairdresser’s“), but dans la maison for a building.

Dans vs en for “in”

Both can translate “in”, but they are not interchangeable. Use dans for a concrete, enclosed space; en appears in fixed expressions and before most means of transport or materials.

Les fruits sont dans le panier. — Je voyage en train.
The fruit is in the basket. — I travel by train.

For a physical container or room, dans is almost always the right choice.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to contract de + le

You cannot leave de le or de les uncontracted.

à côté de le parc / près de les magasins → à côté du parc / près des magasins
next to the park / near the shops

Using chez with a building

Chez takes a person, not a place. For a building, use à or dans.

Je vais chez le restaurant. → Je vais au restaurant.
I’m going to the restaurant.

Mixing up sur and dans

Sur is “on” (a surface); dans is “in” (inside). A photo sur le mur is on the wall; clothes dans l’armoire are inside the wardrobe.

La photo est dans le mur. → La photo est sur le mur.
The photo is on the wall.

The contraction you see here (du, des) is the same one behind au, aux, à la for direction and location, so the two articles reinforce each other. In Fluera you place these prepositions inside short “where is it?” sentences and hear them in context, so the de contractions become automatic. Try it when you practice French.

Practice