What French Prepositions Go With Countries, Continents

When trying to determine which French preposition to use with the French name for a country or continent, the only difficulty is determining the  gender  of that name. Here are some sources and guidelines. Countries To learn the gender of a country, look up the French name on our master list  of all countries in the world. Youll notice that nearly all countries that end in e are feminine, and the rest are masculine.   There are just a few exceptions: le Belizele Cambodgele Mexiquele Mozambiquele Zaà ¯rele Zimbabwe You will be applying the right prepositions to a vast array of countries. So how many countries are there in the world?  National Geographic says that at last count, there were 195 independent countries; how we define a country depends on a complex underpinning of delicate politics and international relations. But United Nations membership guides us. The 195 total includes the 193 member states of the United Nations and two states with nonmember observer status: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. The 195 total does not include: Taiwan (the Peoples Republic of China was declared the true political China in 1971, and so Taiwan lost its status then),  the Cook Islands  and  Niue  (states in free association with New Zealand  that are neither member states nor nonmember observer states),  dependencies  (or dependent territories, dependent areas), autonomous territories, and  other countries  that the United Nations does not recognize as self-governing. Continents The French names of all continents end in e, and all are feminine. In French, there are five major continents, which include:  l’Afrique,  l’Amà ©rique,  l’Asie, lEurope, and lOcà ©anie, on which the five rings of the Olympic  flag are based.  But they become seven if you add lAntarctique  and if you count deux (two)  Amà ©riques, according to lEncyclopà ©die Larousse. National Geographic differs. Heres how there could be seven, six, or five continents: By convention, there are seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica. Some geographers list only six continents, combining Europe and Asia into Eurasia. In parts of the world, students learn that there are just five continents: Eurasia, Australia, Africa, Antarctica, and the Americas.To some geographers, however, continent is not just a physical term; it also carries cultural connotations. For example, Europe and Asia are physically part of the same landmass, but the two areas are culturally diverse. (That is, the various cultural groups in Asia have more in common with one another than with those of Europe.)Oceania is the collective name for the lands of the Pacific Ocean, including Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Oceania is a convenient way to name these areas, which, with the exception of Australia, are not part of any continent. But Oceania itself is not a continent. Find the Gender and Then the Preposition Back to finding the right preposition for these subdivisions on a globe of the world. Once you know the gender, it is a simple matter of deciding which preposition to use. Note, however, that Islands  follow their own rules, so youll have to look up the French name for each in a French dictionary or encyclopedia to determine its gender and number. Fidji, for instance, is masculine and plural to reflect the 333 tropical islands in its group. These are the correct prepositions according to gender and number: Masculine and plural countries:  Ãƒ  Ã‚  or  de,  plus the appropriate  definite article.Except: masculine countries that begin with a vowel, which take  en  to mean to or in  and  d  to mean from.Feminine countries and continents: en  or  de  with no article. Table of Prepositions for Countries and Continents Country is: To or In From masculine and starts with consonant au du masculine and starts with vowel en d feminine en de / d plural aux des Examples Masculine country Feminine country Plural country Continent Je vais au Togo. Elle va en Chine. Il va aux Fidji. Tu vas en Asie. Je suis au Togo. Elle est en Chine. Il est aux Fidji. Tu es en Asie. Je suis du Togo. Elle est de Chine. Il est des Fidji. Tu es dAsie.