French exercises / A2 / Sentence structurePlaces, times and the au / du / aux contractions.
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Depuis vs pendant vs pour
Depuis is for something that started in the past and is still going on, and it takes the present tense. Pendant is for a finished stretch of time, and takes the past. Pour is for time planned in advance, usually with the future. The choice depends on the timeframe, not on the English word.
Read the full explanationDans vs en (time expressions)
En measures how long something takes to complete: je l’ai fait en dix minutes. Dans measures how long from now until it starts: je pars dans dix minutes. Swapping them does not make the sentence clumsy: it makes it say something else entirely.
Read the full explanationPenser à vs penser de
Penser à means to have something on your mind: j’y pense souvent. Penser de asks for an opinion, and turns up almost only in questions: qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce film ? If you are answering that question, you switch back to penser que.
Read the full explanationPrepositions with countries and cities
Cities take à: à Paris, à Tokyo. Countries depend on gender. Feminine countries: almost all those ending in -e: take en: en France, en Italie. Masculine countries take au: au Portugal, au Japon. Plural countries take aux: aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas.
Read the full explanationPrépositions à, de, en, dans: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it.
- 01
Ma cousine habite à Paris depuis deux ans.
Cities take à; only countries take en, au or aux.
- 02
Nous passons toujours nos vacances en Italie.
Feminine countries take en: en Italie, en France, en Espagne.
- 03
Mon frère travaille au Japon depuis janvier.
Masculine countries take au: au Japon, au Canada, au Portugal.
- 04
Elle fait ses études aux États-Unis.
Plural countries take aux: aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas.
- 05
Ce vin vient du Portugal.
Coming from: du Japon, des Pays-Bas, de France: feminine loses the article.