À vs de

French prepositions

As if the myriad possible translations of à and de aren’t enough, these two French prepositions also have complementary and contrasting uses.

À		De
Place
current location, destination		origin, starting point
Il est à Lille.	He’s in Lille.	Il est de Lille.	He’s from Lille.
Il va à Nantes.	He’s going to Nantes.	Il part de Nantes.	He’s leaving (from) Nantes.
Distance
in time or space		point of reference
Le café est à 10 minutes …	The café is 10 minutes …	… du magasin.	… from the store.
J’habite à 2 km …	I live 2 kilometers…	… d’ici.	… from here.
Description
style		purpose, defining feature
sac à main	hand bag	sac de couchage	sleeping bag
cousu à la machine	machine-sewn	cousu de paillettes	sequinned
Object
function, "for"		contents, "of, with"
verre à vin	wine glass	verre de vin	glass of wine
salle à manger	dining room	salle de bains	bathroom
Ingredient
one of several, "made with"		primary, "made of"
salade au chèvre	salad with chèvre	salade de fruits	fruit salad
thé au citron	tea with lemon	jus de citron	lemon juice
Possession
emphasis on owner		general ownership
Cette voiture est à moi.	This car is mine.	la voiture de Lise	Lise’s car
un ami à ma mère	a friend of my mother’s	un ami de ma mère	my mother’s friend

Carole 19 January 2018 / 0:34

i’m very confused about the à vs de usage with ingredients. do you have any more examples? a chocolate chip cookie, for example… bisquit aux pepites de chocolat? chicken broth: bouillon au poulet?

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- lkl 19 January 2018 / 10:09
  
  Chocolate chip cookie = un biscuit aux pepites de chocolat, because chocolate chips are only one of many ingredients.
  
  Chicken stock = bouillon de poulet, because you basically make it by boiling a chicken, that is the sole or primary ingredient.
  
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soheyl.moheb 4 January 2017 / 21:11

hello miss lawless.

thanks so much for this post.
I had some troubles understanding why they use ‘à’ for ‘salle à manger’ and I asked it in duolingo and my friend there linked me to your post. so great that you had the exact example here.

so great and convincing as always.

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- lkl 5 January 2017 / 7:34
  
  Great, happy to help! 🙂
  
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