94 - Prepositions for Modes of Transportation in French

 
 

In this lesson, you'll learn when to use the prepositions "en" and "à" before a transportation mode. 🚁

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Links & Cheat Sheet

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde. 💖 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 94, numéro 94!

So last week's episode was about transportation modes, like the train, the plane, etc. And I've received a question from one of my students, and I thought that most of you listening to the podcast could benefit from the answer.

So the Q was regarding an example I had in last week's episode practice exercises. For those who are new here, each lesson comes with exercises.

So anyway, one the example was: "Elles vont au collège en bus."

And the question was "Does it matter I say "en bus" or "à bus?"

And the quick answer is yes, it does, and you cannot say "à bus."

So that's what I'm going to explain today and what we're going to learn, which preposition to use before a transportation mode, so when you want to say "by car," "by train..." "by bus" etc as per the example I gave you.

So again, if you're brand new here, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet in front of you so you can see the words while listening to the lesson. The download link is in the episode notes. After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy library to download your lesson's exercises. It's free.

Ok, so to translate "by car", by "train" basically + “by” plus a transportation mode, you will use the prepositions "à" or "en." They are not completely interchangeable.

So which one should you use?

Let me share 2 rules with you.

  • Rule #1: Before a transportation mode that you can enter, that you can be inside of, use the preposition "en."

Par exemple:

  1. Je vais au travail en voiture. (I'm going to work by car.)

  2. En train, en bateau, en avion, en taxi.. etc.

For all of these transportation modes, you can be inside of them. That's why we use the preposition "en."

  • Rule #2: Before a transportation mode that you cannot enter, that you cannot be inside of, and I'd even say that you are "riding", use the preposition "à." (and by the way, with an accent on the letter "a".)

Par example:

  1. Je vais au travail à vélo. (I'm going to work by bike.)

  2. À scooter, à trottinette, à moto... etc.

Now, this is rule 2. BUT it is very, very common to hear in modern, spoken French, French speakers say "en vélo", "en scooter", "en trottinette..." etc.

Grammatically speaking, that would be incorrect if we followed the rule, but you know, language constantly evolves, and it is very common for French speakers to interchange them.

So, I'd be pretty relaxed about rule number 2, to be honest.

But, but, but. The main thing that you've got to remember here, is that for rule number 1, you cannot interchange them. In other words, it would be wrong to replace "en" with "à."

So you can't say "Je vais au travail à voiture, à taxi…", that's incorrect, you need to say "Je vais au travail EN taxi."

So let's recap which preposition to use before a transportation mode:

  1. Rule #1: Before a transportation mode that you can enter, that you can be inside of, use the preposition "en."

  2. Rule #2, and again I'm calling that a relaxed rule: Before a transportation mode that you cannot enter, that you cannot be inside of, use the preposition "à." (Je vais au travail à vélo.)

I hope that clarifies that little question.

Also while we're here, and even if it's not a transportation per se, but nonetheless an important expression to remember: by/on foot translated to "à pied" ("Je vais au travail à pied.")

And that concludes our lesson. I hope you enjoyed it. Now you know when to use "en" and "à" before a transportation mode.

I'll chat with you in the next episode.

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt.

 
Mathilde KienComment