- Prepositions are used in front of nouns and pronouns (such as me, him, the man and so on), and show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and the rest of the sentence. Some prepositions can be used before verb forms ending in -ing in English.
- I showed my ticket to the inspector.
- Come with me.
- This brush is really good for cleaning shoes.
- Prepositions are also used after certain adjectives and verbs and link them to the rest of the sentence.
| Je suis très contente de te voir. | I’m very happy to see you. |
| Tu aimes jouer au tennis? | Do you like playing tennis? |
- In English it is possible to finish a sentence with a preposition such as for, about or on, even though some people think this is not good grammar.
You can NEVER end a French sentence with a preposition.
| Le café au lait, c’est pour qui? | Who’s the white coffee for? |
| De quoi parlez-vous? | What are you talking about? |
TipThe French preposition is not always the direct equivalent of the preposition that is used in English. It is often difficult to give just one English equivalent for French prepositions, as the way they are used varies so much between the two languages.