When do I use en, au and aux with countries?

En for feminine countries and all continents (en France, en Asie), au for masculine ones (au Portugal), aux for plurals (aux Pays-Bas). A masculine country beginning with a vowel takes en instead of au: en Iran, en Angola.

How do I know whether a French country name is masculine or feminine?

Names ending in -e are feminine in the great majority of cases: la France, la Chine, la Belgique. The main exceptions are le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe and le Belize. Everything else is masculine, and plural names such as les Pays-Bas form their own group.

How do you say from a country in French?

De for feminine countries, du for masculine, des for plurals: je viens de Grèce, du Maroc, des États-Unis. De elides before a vowel, giving d'Italie and d'Iran.

Why is it à Paris but en France?

Cities have no grammatical gender and take no article, so they all use à. Countries do take an article, and it decides the preposition. The rare cities that keep an article follow the country rule instead: au Havre, au Caire.

What about islands and regions?

Large island countries with an article behave like countries: en Irlande, en Islande. Smaller islands take à with no article: à Cuba, à Chypre, à Madagascar. French regions with a feminine name take en (en Bretagne), while masculine ones usually take dans le (dans le Jura).

French grammar · Beginner

In, To and From a Country in French: En, Au, Aux, De, Du, Des

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

To say in or to a country, French uses en for feminine countries and all continents, au for masculine ones, and aux for plurals: en France, au Japon, aux Pays-Bas. To say from, the same three groups take de, du and des.

Elle habite en Italie, mais elle travaille souvent au Maroc.

She lives in Italy, but she often works in Morocco.

What it is

French country names carry a gender, and that gender chooses the preposition. Because the same form covers in and to, en France means both I live in France and I'm going to France, and only the verb tells you which.

Je vais en Allemagne, je vis au Canada, je viens des Pays-Bas. — I'm going to Germany, I live in Canada, I come from the Netherlands.

How to spot it

Look at the article the country normally takes. La France gives en France, le Japon gives au Japon, les Philippines gives aux Philippines.

en Chine — in / to China (la Chine)
au Portugal — in / to Portugal (le Portugal)
aux États-Unis — in / to the United States (les États-Unis)
en Iran — in / to Iran (masculine, but starts with a vowel)

Countries ending in -e are feminine, with a short list of exceptions: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe and le Belize.

Geographical Prepositions Continents Countries Quick Reference

Which preposition for which country

Type of name	In / to	From	Example
Feminine country	en	de / d'	en Suisse, de Suisse
Masculine country	au	du	au Sénégal, du Sénégal
Masculine starting with a vowel	en	d'	en Iran, d'Iran
Plural country	aux	des	aux Pays-Bas, des Pays-Bas
Continent (all feminine)	en	de / d'	en Afrique, d'Afrique
French region	en or dans le	de or du	en Bretagne, dans le Var
City	à	de / d'	à Berlin, de Berlin

Common Geographical Prepositions Continents Countries Examples in French

The three patterns in ordinary sentences:

En for Feminine Countries and Continents

Nous passons l'été en Grèce.: We spend the summer in Greece.
Il enseigne en Belgique.: He teaches in Belgium.
Ils voyagent en Asie pendant six mois.: They're travelling in Asia for six months.
Je retourne en Inde cet hiver.: I'm going back to India this winter.

Every continent is feminine, so all six take en: en Europe, en Afrique, en Asie, en Océanie, en Amérique du Nord, en Amérique du Sud.

Au for Masculine Countries

Elle travaille au Japon depuis deux ans.: She's been working in Japan for two years.
On part au Canada en juillet.: We're going to Canada in July.
Mon frère vit au Danemark.: My brother lives in Denmark.
Le tournoi a lieu au Brésil.: The tournament is taking place in Brazil.

Au is simply à plus le, contracted. The country still keeps its article elsewhere in the sentence: le Japon est une île.

Aux for Plural Names

Elle est née aux États-Unis.: She was born in the United States.
Nous allons aux Pays-Bas en train.: We're going to the Netherlands by train.
Il a grandi aux Philippines.: He grew up in the Philippines.
Les prix montent aux Émirats arabes unis.: Prices are rising in the United Arab Emirates.

Only a handful of country names are plural, but they are common enough to be worth learning as a set.

En for Masculine Names Starting With a Vowel

Il travaille en Iran.: He works in Iran.
Ma cousine part en Israël.: My cousin is going to Israel.
L'entreprise investit en Irak.: The company is investing in Iraq.
Nous avons vécu en Angola.: We lived in Angola.

Au Iran would put two vowel sounds together, which French avoids, so the masculine rule gives way to en.

How the System Works

Gender chooses the preposition, and one sound rule overrides gender when a vowel gets in the way.

Find the Gender First

Country names in French take an article, and that article tells you everything: la Norvège gives en Norvège, le Pérou gives au Pérou. Learn the country with its article and the preposition follows automatically.

La Norvège est magnifique ; je vais en Norvège en juin.

Norway is beautiful; I'm going to Norway in June.

la → en, le → au, les → aux.

Final -e Usually Means Feminine

Most country names ending in -e are feminine, which covers a large part of the map. The exceptions are few and worth memorising outright: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe, le Belize.

Nous partons au Mexique, puis en Colombie.

We're off to Mexico, then to Colombia.

-e → feminine, with five exceptions.

En and To Are the Same Word

French makes no distinction between being somewhere and going somewhere with country names. Je suis en France and je vais en France use identical prepositions, and the verb carries the difference.

Je suis au Sénégal, mais je repars au Mali demain.

I'm in Senegal, but I'm leaving for Mali again tomorrow.

One preposition for in and to.

A Vowel Beats the Gender Rule

A masculine country beginning with a vowel takes en rather than au, purely for pronunciation. The name stays masculine, so from is still d' rather than de la.

Il rentre d'Iran la semaine prochaine.

He's coming back from Iran next week.

au + vowel → en.

From Mirrors the Same Three Groups

Feminine countries take de, masculine ones du, plurals des. The de elides before a vowel, giving d'Italie, d'Allemagne, d'Iran.

Ce fromage vient des Pays-Bas et celui-là du Danemark.

This cheese comes from the Netherlands and that one from Denmark.

de / du / des for from.

Common Mistakes with Geographical Prepositions Continents Countries

Incorrect: Je vais à France. — I'm going to France.

Correct: Je vais en France. — I'm going to France.

À is for cities. A country with an article needs en, au or aux depending on its gender and number, and la France is feminine.

Incorrect: Il habite en Japon. — He lives in Japan.

Correct: Il habite au Japon. — He lives in Japan.

Le Japon is masculine and starts with a consonant, so à plus le contracts to au. En is reserved for feminine names and for masculine ones beginning with a vowel.

Incorrect: Je viens de le Canada. — I'm from Canada.

Correct: Je viens du Canada. — I'm from Canada.

De and le must contract to du. The same applies on the other side: à plus le is always au, never à le.

Incorrect: Elle est née en États-Unis. — She was born in the United States.

Correct: Elle est née aux États-Unis. — She was born in the United States.

Plural country names take aux, the contraction of à plus les. En never appears in front of a plural.

Saying Where You Are From

The from side of the system has its own habits, and so do regions, which sit between countries and cities.

Origins with de, du and des

Venir de plus a country is the standard way to give your origin. The gender rules apply exactly as they do for en, au and aux, and de elides before a vowel.

Je viens de Suisse.: I'm from Switzerland.
Elle vient du Cameroun.: She's from Cameroon.
Ils viennent des Philippines.: They're from the Philippines.
Mon voisin vient d'Algérie.: My neighbour is from Algeria.

For nationality rather than origin, French uses an adjective with no preposition at all: elle est suisse, il est camerounais.

Regions and provinces

French regions with a feminine name take en, like countries: en Bretagne, en Normandie. Masculine ones usually take dans le, and départements almost always do.

Nous passons l'été en Provence.: We spend the summer in Provence.
Ils ont une maison dans le Jura.: They have a house in the Jura.
Elle enseigne dans le Nord.: She teaches in the Nord département.
On fait du vélo en Bourgogne.: We cycle in Burgundy.

American states follow the same instinct: en Californie, en Floride, but dans le Colorado, au Texas.

Countries that behave unexpectedly

A few well-known names break the -e pattern or drop the article altogether, so they are best learnt individually.

Nous allons au Mexique.: We're going to Mexico.
Il travaille à Madagascar.: He works in Madagascar.
Elle part au Cambodge.: She's off to Cambodia.
Ils vivent à Malte.: They live in Malta.

Madagascar, Malte, Chypre and Cuba are island states with no article, so they take à like cities.

Geographical Prepositions Continents Countries FAQs

When do I use en, au and aux with countries?: En for feminine countries and all continents (en France, en Asie), au for masculine ones (au Portugal), aux for plurals (aux Pays-Bas). A masculine country beginning with a vowel takes en instead of au: en Iran, en Angola.
How do I know whether a French country name is masculine or feminine?: Names ending in -e are feminine in the great majority of cases: la France, la Chine, la Belgique. The main exceptions are le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe and le Belize. Everything else is masculine, and plural names such as les Pays-Bas form their own group.
How do you say from a country in French?: De for feminine countries, du for masculine, des for plurals: je viens de Grèce, du Maroc, des États-Unis. De elides before a vowel, giving d'Italie and d'Iran.
Why is it à Paris but en France?: Cities have no grammatical gender and take no article, so they all use à. Countries do take an article, and it decides the preposition. The rare cities that keep an article follow the country rule instead: au Havre, au Caire.
What about islands and regions?: Large island countries with an article behave like countries: en Irlande, en Islande. Smaller islands take à with no article: à Cuba, à Chypre, à Madagascar. French regions with a feminine name take en (en Bretagne), while masculine ones usually take dans le (dans le Jura).