Cities and Countryside In French: List of names and places

Are you better fit for urban life or country life? Are you a versatile person who can easily adapt and enjoy both of them? Either you prefer city life or countryside life, this article will be really useful for you because we will cover some essential vocabulary to talk about cities and countryside in French.

At the end of this article, you will be able to:

refer to key places in the city
mention different kinds of villages, towns
talk about the most popular cities in France
the prepositions commonly used when referring to cities and countries in French and some exercises to put them into practice.

Are you ready for a little tour around all these places? Well, buckle up and follow us!

If you wish to boost your French skills or take the tests DELF, DALF or TCF, revising all our french vocabuary worksheets is always a great idea!

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City landmarks and attractions

Where do you live? Imagine the following situations: in the first one, a foreign friend comes to visit you, which places and landmarks would you like to show him? and in the second one, you are leaving the city where you grew up and you do not know when you come back, where would you like to go? Detailed below you will find some keywords in French that will help you organize these imaginary tours!

Landmarks and public buildings	Monuments et édifices publics
Town Hall	L'Hôtel de ville / la mairie
library	la bibliothèque
museum	un musée
art gallery	une galerie d’art
concert-hall	une salle de concert
cathedral	une cathédrale
castle	un château
park, public garden	un parc, un jardin public
churches and chapels	des églises; des temples
bridge	un pont
shop	un magasin
mall	un centre commercial
bakery	une boulangerie
market	un marché
neighborhood	un quartier

The Streets

Narrow, solitary, dirty, dangerous, lively, noisy, snow-covered streets from all over the world have been immortalized by photographers, movie directors, singers, writers and artists: Thanks to their work you can spot and even wonder the streets of Paris, London, Teheran, New York, Bogota, Buenos Aires, and the list is endless. Let’s study some vocabulary to talk about streets.

a street	une rue
an alley	une ruelle
an avenue	une avenue
a square	une place
a walkway/pedestrian way	une rue piétonnière
the sidewalk/ the pavement	le trottoir
the curb/ the kerb	le bord du trottoir
traffic light	un feu tricolore / lumineux
a crosswalk /a zebra crossing	un passage pour piétons
skyscraper	le gratte-ciel
tower	une tour
downtown/ the town centre	le centre ville

City, Town, Villages And Country Life

Let’s check some useful words about these different places.

city, capital city, metropolis	une ville, la capitale, une métropole
town	une ville
village	un village
municipality	une commune
historic town / medieval town	une cité historique / médiévale
hamlet	un hameau, un lieu-dit
outskirts	faubourgs
the suburbs	la banlieue
surroundings, setting	un cadre
a country	un pays
the country, the countryside	la campagne
landscape	le paysage
town dweller	le citadin
farmer	un paysan

Popular Cities In France

There are many reasons to visit France: everywhere you go, you will find historic buildings, unique and magic castles, delicious food, great wine, champagne, many different kinds of cheese and seasonal events, among many other attractions. How about learning some phrases about popular cities in France?

Paris is the capital of France. It is the second most visited city in the world.	Paris est la capitale française. C’est la deuxième ville la plus visitée du monde.
Nice is located on the French Riviera, so it has wonderful beaches and lovely weather.	Nice est située sur la Côte d’Azur, donc, il y a des plages magnifiques et il fait beau!
Marseille is located on the Mediterranean coast. Known as the Phocaean city, it is one of the oldest cities in France.	Marseille est située sur la côte méditerranéenne. Connue comme la Cité Phocéenne, elle est une des plus anciennes villes de France.
One of the biggest cities in France is Lyon. It’s well-known because of its local food and the Basilica of Fourvière that dominates the city.	Une des plus grandes villes de France est Lyon. Elle est bien connue pour sa nourriture locale et pour la Basilique de Fourvière qui domine la ville.
Bordeaux is a charming city: it has huge squares, great architecture and the air of the ocean!	Bordeaux est une ville charmante: elle a d’immenses places, une architecture magnifique et l’air de l’océan!
Strasbourg is the seat to the European Parliament and its towering cathedral is worldly famous.	Strasbourg abrite le Parlement Européen et sa cathédrale imposante est mondialement célèbre.

Let’s Talk About Prepositions Used With Places In French

There are four prepositions to talk about cities and countries in French: “à”, “en”, “au” and “aux.” How do we know when to use each one of them? We’ll see that right away!

Have you noticed that in French, people say:

Je vais à Paris, but:
Je vais au Japon? In this section, you will understand why.

How to use the preposition “à”: This preposition is the equivalent to “in” or “to” in English. Generally, you use “à” before the name of a city. For instance if you want to say:

“I live in Marseille” in French, you should say: J’habite à Marseille.
“In spring, we are going to Nice.” You should say: Au printemps, nous irons à Nice.
“She lives in Brussels.” You should say: Elle habite à Bruxelles.

If you want to clarify the type of place:

“I love going to the countryside”. You should say: J’adore aller à la campagne.

If you talk about a masculine or a plural country; you should use “au”. Let’s see:

Japan is a masculine noun in French: Le Japon. So, if you want to say: “I’m going to Japan,” you should say: Je vais au Japon (we don’t say: à le; instead, we say: au).
If you want to be more precise: I live downtown: J’habite au centre ville.

In the particular case of plural countries, we use the preposition “aux” (we don’t say: à les).

Patrick and Michelle are going to Holland: Patrick et Michelle vont aller aux Pays-Bas.
My aunt lives in a French municipality called “Les Ulis”: Ma tante habite aux Ulis.

You can also use “aux” when you mean “in the area, near, around” a place:

Chris lives near Marseille: Chris habite aux environs de Marseille.

In the specific case of feminine countries or countries whose first letter is a vowel, we use the preposition: en.

She went to live in France: Elle est partie vivre en France.
Next summer, I’m going to Italy: L’été prochain, j’irai en Italie.

Let’s Put All This Into Practice!

Complete the following sentences with the right preposition (en, à, au, aux).

Elvy habite _________ environs de Cannes.

Je partirai un mois __________ Espagne pour pratiquer mon espagnol.

Alec veux partir ______ Luxembourg pour faire un stage.

Mon cousin est ______ Chine.

Fred est photographe ______ Iran.

Elles vont _____ Cuba.

Catalina et son compagnon habitent _____ Portugal; mais ils vont partir ______ Etats-Unis car il a trouvé un travail là-bas.

J’irai travailler ______ Londres.

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