【定冠词缩合】Contraction à la, à l’, au in French

 Contraction à la, à l’, au in French

 

 

Preposition “à”:

 

In English “à” can be “to”, “at”, “in” and sometimes nothing (I go home)

The preposition “à” is contracted with the masculine definite article in French

 

Je vais à la plage: “plage” is feminine, no contraction.

Je vais à l’école: “école” is feminine but we don’t mind; the word starts with a vowel so “à l'”.

Je vais à l’étage: “étage” is masculine but again we say “à l'”.

Je vais à l’hotel: same thing for words starting with a plugged “h”

 

Masculine:

 

Je vais au cinéma ( we don’t say “à le” but “au”)

J’ai mal au pied (my foot hurts)

 

Plural:

 

Je vais aux toilettes (toilettes is always plural in French from France)

“Aux” works with masculine and feminine words.