Which preposition do you use with French cities?

À for in and to, de for from: j'habite à Nantes, je viens de Nantes. The handful of cities whose name includes an article contract instead: au Caire, du Caire, à La Rochelle, de La Rochelle.

Why is it à Cuba but en Corse?

Because Cuba takes no article in French while la Corse does, and because Corsica is large enough that French treats it as a region rather than a spot on the map. Article-free islands pattern with cities and take à; large feminine ones pattern with countries and take en.

How do you say to the Bahamas or to the Maldives in French?

Aux Bahamas and aux Maldives. Island groups are plural nouns with les built into the name, so à + les gives aux and de + les gives des: on rentre des Maldives.

Is it à la Martinique or en Martinique?

À la Martinique is the traditional and safest form, and the same goes for à la Guadeloupe and à la Réunion. You will hear en Martinique from speakers who treat it as a region, but à la is what you'll see in careful writing.

How do I say from a place in French?

Swap the preposition for de and keep whatever article the name carries. De Paris, de Cuba, de Corse with no article; du Havre and de la Réunion with one; des Bahamas for plurals. Before a vowel, de elides: elle vient d'Amsterdam.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Prepositions with Cities and Islands: À Paris, En Corse, Aux Bahamas

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

For cities, French uses à to say in or to and de to say from: à Rome, de Rome. Islands split into three groups: small ones take bare à (à Cuba), islands that come with an article take à plus that article (à la Réunion, aux Bahamas), and large feminine ones behave like countries and take en (en Corse, en Sicile).

Je vais à Paris, puis en Corse, et enfin à la Martinique.

I'm going to Paris, then to Corsica, and finally to Martinique.

What it is

French chooses a preposition according to what kind of place a name refers to, not according to what you're doing there. Going to a city and being in a city both use à. The real work is deciding whether a name counts as a city, a bare island, an island with an article, or an island big enough to behave like a country.

Elle habite à Lyon, elle est née à Cuba, et elle passe l'été en Sardaigne. — She lives in Lyon, she was born in Cuba, and she spends the summer in Sardinia.

How to spot it

Ask whether the name normally appears with an article in French. Le Havre, la Réunion, and les Bahamas do; Paris, Cuba, and Malte don't. That single fact decides most of these choices.

à Bordeaux — in / to Bordeaux (city, no article)
à Madagascar — in / to Madagascar (island, no article)
à la Guadeloupe — in / to Guadeloupe (island with la)
en Sicile — in / to Sicily (large feminine island)

Whichever preposition you use for in and to, the from version is built on de: de Bordeaux, de Cuba, de la Guadeloupe, de Sicile.

Geographical Prepositions Islands Cities Quick Reference

Which preposition each kind of place takes

Type of place	In / To	From	Example
City, no article	à	de / d'	à Nice, de Nice
City with le	au	du	au Caire, du Caire
City with la	à La	de La	à La Rochelle, de La Rochelle
Small island, no article	à	de / d'	à Cuba, de Cuba
Island with la	à la	de la	à la Réunion, de la Réunion
Island with les	aux	des	aux Bahamas, des Bahamas
Large feminine island	en	de	en Corse, de Corse

Common Geographical Prepositions Islands Cities Examples in French

The four patterns in real sentences:

Cities

J'habite à Toulouse depuis dix ans.: I've lived in Toulouse for ten years.
Le train pour Bruxelles part à midi.: The train for Brussels leaves at midday.
Elle revient de Montréal demain.: She's coming back from Montreal tomorrow.
Nous sommes arrivés à Genève hier soir.: We arrived in Geneva last night.

À covers both in and to. French sees no reason to distinguish being somewhere from heading there.

Islands That Take Bare À

Ils passent l'hiver à Cuba.: They spend the winter in Cuba.
Nous sommes allés à Chypre en juin.: We went to Cyprus in June.
Elle enseigne à Madagascar.: She teaches in Madagascar.
Le vol pour Tahiti dure vingt heures.: The flight to Tahiti takes twenty hours.

These names take no article in French at all, which is exactly why the preposition stays bare.

Islands With an Article

Mon oncle vit à la Martinique.: My uncle lives in Martinique.
On part aux Seychelles au printemps.: We're leaving for the Seychelles in the spring.
Elle revient de la Réunion.: She's coming back from Réunion.
Ils se sont mariés aux Bahamas.: They got married in the Bahamas.

The article is part of the name, so it never disappears: la Réunion, les Seychelles, les Bahamas.

Islands Treated as Regions

Nous avons loué une maison en Corse.: We rented a house in Corsica.
Il a grandi en Sicile.: He grew up in Sicily.
Elle rentre de Sardaigne lundi.: She's coming back from Sardinia on Monday.
On a fait le tour de la Crète en voiture.: We drove around Crete.

These are large, feminine, and administratively regions or countries, so they take en like la France and l'Italie.

How the Choice Is Made

Every one of these prepositions is really the same short list of contractions applied to whatever article the place name carries.

Cities Take À, Full Stop

There is no separate preposition for going to a city and being in one. À Paris covers both, and the verb supplies the difference: je suis à Paris, je vais à Paris. The from version is de: je viens de Paris.

Il travaille à Marseille mais il vient de Lille.

He works in Marseille but he's from Lille.

City → à for in and to, de for from.

The Article Decides Everything Else

If the place name comes with an article, the preposition contracts with it the way it always does. À + la stays à la, à + les becomes aux, and de + les becomes des. Nothing here is special to geography.

Nous sommes rentrés des Philippines la semaine dernière.

We came back from the Philippines last week.

aux Bahamas, des Bahamas — ordinary contractions.

En Belongs to Feminine Territories

En is the preposition French uses for feminine countries and regions, and the largest islands are counted among them. That's why Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, and Crete take en rather than à: grammatically they behave like la Bretagne or la Normandie.

Elle enseigne le français en Corse.

She teaches French in Corsica.

Big, feminine, region-like → en.

En Erases the Article, À Keeps It

One reason en looks different is that it swallows the article entirely: la Corse becomes en Corse, never *en la Corse. À, by contrast, keeps whatever article the name has, which is why you get à la Martinique.

On va en Sardaigne, puis à la Réunion.

We're going to Sardinia, then to Réunion.

en + bare name, à + article.

Common Mistakes with Geographical Prepositions Islands Cities

Incorrect: Je vais dans Paris demain. — I'm going to Paris tomorrow.

Correct: Je vais à Paris demain. — I'm going to Paris tomorrow.

Dans Paris exists but means inside the city limits, contrasted with the suburbs. For ordinary in and to, cities take à.

Incorrect: Nous partons à les Bahamas. — We're leaving for the Bahamas.

Correct: Nous partons aux Bahamas. — We're leaving for the Bahamas.

À and les always contract into aux. Island groups are plural in French, so they take aux and des.

Incorrect: Il habite en la Corse. — He lives in Corsica.

Correct: Il habite en Corse. — He lives in Corsica.

En absorbs the article. You never see en la or en le anywhere in French, whether the noun is a place or not.

Incorrect: Elle vient de le Havre. — She's from Le Havre.

Correct: Elle vient du Havre. — She's from Le Havre.

The le in Le Havre is a real definite article and contracts with de just like any other. The city name being a proper noun makes no difference.

Place Names That Come With an Article

A short list of cities carries a definite article as part of the name, and it changes the preposition in ways that surprise learners.

Cities with le

Le Havre, le Caire, and le Mans keep their article, so à and de contract into au and du.

Le ferry part du Havre.: The ferry leaves from Le Havre.
Nous avons passé trois jours au Caire.: We spent three days in Cairo.
Les vingt-quatre heures du Mans: The twenty-four hours of Le Mans

Because the article is part of the name, it keeps its capital letter in some spellings and not others; the contraction happens either way.

Cities with la or les

La Rochelle, La Havane, and La Nouvelle-Orléans keep la, which never contracts, so the preposition simply sits in front.

Elle est née à La Rochelle.: She was born in La Rochelle.
Il rentre de La Havane.: He's coming back from Havana.
Le jazz est né à La Nouvelle-Orléans.: Jazz was born in New Orleans.

Only le and les contract. La and l' never do, in geography or anywhere else.

Regions and départements

French regions follow the country rules: feminine ones take en, masculine ones take dans le, and plural ones take dans les.

Ils passent l'été en Bretagne.: They spend the summer in Brittany.
On a acheté une maison dans le Var.: We bought a house in the Var.
Elle travaille dans les Alpes-Maritimes.: She works in the Alpes-Maritimes.

Dans le and dans les are the standard choice for départements, which is why you hear dans le Nord but en Normandie.

Geographical Prepositions Islands Cities FAQs

Which preposition do you use with French cities?: À for in and to, de for from: j'habite à Nantes, je viens de Nantes. The handful of cities whose name includes an article contract instead: au Caire, du Caire, à La Rochelle, de La Rochelle.
Why is it à Cuba but en Corse?: Because Cuba takes no article in French while la Corse does, and because Corsica is large enough that French treats it as a region rather than a spot on the map. Article-free islands pattern with cities and take à; large feminine ones pattern with countries and take en.
How do you say to the Bahamas or to the Maldives in French?: Aux Bahamas and aux Maldives. Island groups are plural nouns with les built into the name, so à + les gives aux and de + les gives des: on rentre des Maldives.
Is it à la Martinique or en Martinique?: À la Martinique is the traditional and safest form, and the same goes for à la Guadeloupe and à la Réunion. You will hear en Martinique from speakers who treat it as a region, but à la is what you'll see in careful writing.
How do I say from a place in French?: Swap the preposition for de and keep whatever article the name carries. De Paris, de Cuba, de Corse with no article; du Havre and de la Réunion with one; des Bahamas for plurals. Before a vowel, de elides: elle vient d'Amsterdam.