Les prépositions de lieu 

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After you have finished listening to the video, come back to this page for some more explanations on some of the prepositions:

Sur
The most common way of translating “sur” is “on”.

par exemple
Le chat est sur la chaise.

However, to mean you are on the bus, you actually need the preposition “dans”. Just think what could happen if you were sat on top of the bus in French.

par exemple
Je suis dans le bus = I am on the bus.

You can also use “sur” when referring to particular cities.

par exemple
Je suis sur Paris (I am in Paris).
We only use “sur” with certain cities in a familiar context.

Sous
“sous” means under and can be used to form compound words like
un sous-main (a desk blotter)
le sous-sol (the basement)
le sous-chef (the second in command)
le souterrain (the underground)

Devant
“devant” can be translated with “in front of” or “before”

par exemple
Je suis devant le cinéma (I am in front of the cinema).
Tu peux passer devant moi (you can go before me)

A côté de
Be careful with prepositions ending with “de”. If the noun afterwards is masculine, “de” will become “du”

par exemple
L’hôtel est à côté du cinéma.