Countries: en / au / aux
Most countries are considered feminine in French, and take en:
En Angleterre, En France, En Espagne, En Italie, En Allemagne
A sizeable minority are masculine, and take au:
Au Pays de Galles, Au Maroc, Au Portugal, Au Canada, Au Japon, Au Mexique…
A few countries are plural, and take aux:
Aux_Etats_Unis
Remember the pronunciation of this phrase. The final consonants are usually silent, but may be pronounced when they precede a vowel or h.
Towns, cities, villages… : à
This is a much simpler rule than when referring to countries. However small the village, medium-sized the town, or however large the city, the preposition will always be à
J’habite à Hertford.
Je vais à Paris pour regarder le match de rugby..
There are a few French towns where "Le" is included in the name, so it behaves in the usual grammatical way. (Remember that "à + le = au" in most cases, and similarly, "de + le = du". So:
Le Mans
Le Havre
Je vais au Havre
Je viens du Mans
Geographical points, English counties = dans (le)
Ma ville est dans le Hertfordshire.
Ma sœur habite à Colchester, qui est une ville dans le l’est d’Angleterre.
Où se trouve Lille ? à Dans le nord.
But certain regions are big, important enough to be treated like countries, grammatically:
J’aime aller en Cornouailles en vacances.
Ah bon ? Moi, je préfère aller en Bretagne.
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