french speaking exam, preliminary level, on 12th June

[julie wright]

Hi Everyone,

 

I find the prepostitions/verbs in French 'tres difficile' and can't seem to find the difference in 'to' and 'at' in French.  Can anyone tell me is this just distinguished by context.

 

Julie

[stu harris]

Yes, mostly both these translate as à.

"at" would become chez in constructions such as "I'm at my mother's place" = Je suis chez ma mère.

And of course, "to" as part of an infinitive just disappears. "To live is to love" = Vivre est aimer.

[stu harris]

My big fat dictionary lists tons of exceptions, e.g.

"He came at night" = Il est venu la nuit

"To sum up" = Pour résumer