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En, Au, Aux: French Prepositions with Countries
To say you are going to a country — or already there — French picks the preposition from the country’s gender and number: en France (feminine), au Japon (masculine), aux États-Unis (plural), and bare à for cities. To say where you come from, de, du and des mirror those forms exactly.
English uses "to", "in" and "from" for every place, so this system looks arbitrary at first. It isn’t: almost every country has an article — la France, le Japon, les États-Unis — and the article decides the preposition. (The article-less few, like Cuba, behave like cities — see below.) A shortcut even predicts the article: countries ending in -e are almost all feminine.
In short
- Going to / being in: en France, en Iran (vowel-initial), au Japon, aux États-Unis, à Paris.
- Coming from: de France, d’Iran, du Japon, des États-Unis, de Paris.
- Shortcut: a country ending in -e is feminine — the main exceptions are le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique and le Zimbabwe.
going to / being incoming fromgender clue· hover a highlighted word for its label
The whole system in one table
The same preposition covers both movement and location — j’habite en France and je vais en France use identical forms, a genuine relief after English "in" vs "to". The only decision is the country’s gender and number.
| Place type | Going to / being in | Coming from |
|---|---|---|
| feminine country (la France) | en France | de France |
| masculine country, vowel-initial (l’Iran) | en Iran | d’Iran |
| masculine country (le Japon) | au Japon | du Japon |
| plural country (les États-Unis) | aux États-Unis | des États-Unis |
| city (Paris) | à Paris | de Paris |
En and de: feminine countries
Most countries ending in -e are feminine — la France, l’Italie, la Chine, la Suisse — and they drop their article entirely behind the preposition. Destination and location take en; origin takes de, elided to d’ before a vowel.
The same forms serve masculine countries that begin with a vowel: l’Iran, l’Équateur, l’Ouganda. Sound beats gender here, so it is en Iran, never "au Iran".
We live in France, but we’re going to Italy this summer.
— Both countries are feminine, so en covers living there and going there.
This cheese comes from France and that wine comes from Italy.
— Origin mirrors destination: de with no article, d’ before a vowel.
He works in Iran, but he was born in Ecuador.
— L’Iran and l’Équateur are masculine — but they start with a vowel, so en wins.
Au and du: masculine countries
Masculine countries that start with a consonant — le Japon, le Canada, le Maroc, le Brésil, le Portugal — keep their article, and the preposition fuses with it: à + le gives au, de + le gives du. These are the same contractions you meet everywhere in French; the mechanics live on definite articles.
She’s leaving for Japan next week.
— Le Japon is masculine and starts with a consonant, so destination takes au.
He gets back from Japan on Monday.
— Masculine countries keep their article in origin phrases: du = de + le.
Aux and des: plural countries
A few countries are grammatically plural: les États-Unis, les Pays-Bas, les Philippines. The contractions simply go plural too — à + les gives aux, de + les gives des.
They’re studying in the United States this year.
— Les États-Unis is plural, so à + les fuses into aux.
We’re coming back from the United States with too many suitcases.
— Plural origin: de + les fuses into des.
À for cities: no article at all
Cities have no article, so no contraction can happen: bare à for destination and location, bare de for origin.
Elle vient de Lyon et il vient de Londres.
I live in Paris, but I work in Lyon.
— Cities take bare à — no article, whatever the city.
Islands, city-states, and continents
Island countries and city-states without an article behave like cities and take à: à Cuba, à Malte, à Monaco, à Singapour. Continents all take en too — they are feminine (l’Europe, l’Asie, l’Afrique) or vowel-initial (l’Antarctique):
Le Portugal est en Europe et le Vietnam est en Asie.
They spend the winter in Cuba, far from the cold.
— Small islands behave like cities and take à.
The gender shortcut: -e means feminine
You rarely need to memorize a country’s gender separately. If the name ends in -e, it is feminine; any other ending points masculine. The most famous exceptions are masculine despite their final -e — le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe — which is why French says au Mexique. Why final -e leans feminine is the same story as for ordinary nouns: see noun gender.
From country name to preposition
- Ends in -e → feminine → en / de: la France, la Chine, la Norvège
- Any other ending → masculine → au / du: le Japon, le Canada, le Brésil
- Masculine but vowel-initial → en / d’: l’Iran, l’Équateur
- Masculine exceptions in -e → au / du: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique
Common mistakes
✗Je vais au France cet été.
✓Je vais en France cet été.
La France is feminine, and feminine countries take en — au is reserved for masculine ones like au Japon.
✗Il habite en Japon depuis deux ans.
✓Il habite au Japon depuis deux ans.
Le Japon is masculine and starts with a consonant, so à + le contracts to au.
✗Elle travaille au Iran.
✓Elle travaille en Iran.
L’Iran is masculine, but it starts with a vowel — vowel-initial countries take en regardless of gender.
✗Nous allons à la Suisse en décembre.
✓Nous allons en Suisse en décembre.
Countries never take à la for destination; a feminine country drops its article and takes bare en.
Check yourself
1 / 4Elle habite ___ Japon.
2 / 4Ils reviennent ___ États-Unis.
3 / 4Ce café vient ___ Mexique.
4 / 4J’habite ___ Paris.
Frequently asked questions
Is it au or en with countries in French?
It depends on the country: en for feminine countries (en France) and for masculine countries starting with a vowel (en Iran), au for masculine consonant-initial countries (au Japon), and aux for plural ones (aux États-Unis).
Why do the French say aux États-Unis?
Because the country’s name is grammatically plural: les États-Unis, "the United States". The preposition à fuses with les to give aux, exactly like à + le gives au.
How do I know if a country is feminine or masculine in French?
Look at the ending: countries in -e are feminine (la France, la Chine), the rest masculine (le Japon, le Canada). The main exceptions are le Mexique, le Cambodge and le Mozambique — masculine despite the -e.
Do cities need an article in French?
No — cities take bare à and de: à Paris, de Lyon. A handful of city names contain an article of their own, like Le Havre, and those do contract: au Havre, du Havre.
Is it à Cuba or en Cuba?
À Cuba. Small islands and city-states behave like cities and take à: à Cuba, à Malte, à Monaco. Island countries whose name carries an article follow the normal rules: l’Islande is feminine, so en Islande.
Memory tip
Before choosing the preposition, say the country with its article. If you’d say la, say en; if le, say au; if les, say aux. Coming from? Swap them for de, du, des.
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