Prepositions and Contractions

among	parmi	par-mee
at / to / in	à	ah
at the house of	chez	shay
between	entre	on-truh
for	pour	poohr
from / of / about	de	duh
in	dans	dawn
on	sur	sir
with	avec	ah-veck
without	sans	sawn

Prepositional Contractions

à + le = au	oh	at / to / in the
à + les = aux	oh	at / to / in the (pl.)
de + le = du	dew	of / from / about the
de + les = des	day	of / from / about the (pl.)

In:  Dans vs. En
Dans is used to show the time when an action will begin, while
en shows the length of time an action takes.

Je pars dans quinze minutes.  I'm leaving
in 15 minutes.
Il peut lire ce livre en une demi-heure.  He can read
this book in a half hour.

With: Avec vs. De vs. A vs. Chez
Avec implies doing something or going along with someone; de is
used in phrases of manner and in many idiomatic expressions; à
is used when referring to someone's attributes; and chez is used to mean
"as far as (person) is concerned."  To describe the way a person carries
him/herself, no extra word is used.

Je vais en France avec ma sœur.  I'm going to
France with my sister.
Elle me remercie d'un sourire.  She thanks me with a smile.
L'homme aux cheveux roux est très grand.  The man with the
red hair is very tall.
Chez cet enfant, tout est simple.  With this child, everything is
simple.
Il marche, les mains dans les poches.  He walks with his hands in
his pockets.

---

This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages