Habiter or demurer

[Crack1]

Where does he live?
He lives in Canada.

Il habite en le Canada.
He lives in Canada.
We use the French verb 'habiter' in this context.

We don't say, for example, he dwells in Canada. We use the verb live in this context.

Now I found out even the French word 'demurer' could be used.
Is it correct? I would like to know more about how to use the French verb demurer.

[Neil Coffey]

Careful of the spelling of demeurer.

The verb can indeed be used in a similar way to habiter, but it is generally of a more formal register, not so much like English "dwell", but more like reside (cf. He resides in Canada.).

The verb is also sometimes used instead of rester, to mean remain.

See the examples under demeurer in the section on avoir and être.

[stella]

yes, that's right, but we say "il habite AU Canada", and not "il habite en le Canada"

[Crack1]

Hi french flower.

Il habite en France. This is correct.

Why do you use 'au' when writing Canada?

Il habite en Canada. OR
Il habite au Canada.

[stella]

we use AU because Canada is a male word in french, and we use EN when the country is a female word.
so we say for example:
j'habite en France (la france)
j'habite en Italie (une italie)
j'habite en Russie (la russie)
et
j'habite au Portugal (le Portugal)
j'habite au Japon (le japon)
....

[Crack1]

Thanks french flower

How about the USA?

J'habite en USA. OR
J'habite au USA.

[Neil Coffey]

When the country has a plural name, then aux is generally used:

J'habite aux États-Unis.

Other examples would include Pays-Bas, Seychelles...

Incidentally, just to add to the complication, there are a few (generally feminine) countries which are islands, which many speakers use without the article at all. For example:

J'habite à Cuba.
J'habite à Malte.
J'habite à Taïwan.

[Pibosan]

This is a very good point.  Of course French is not straight forward in that you use à with ALL islands or island nations.  If the name is faminine and has an article, then you will have to you en as in

J'habite en Nouvelle-Zélande. (La Nouvelle-Zélande)

J'habite en Irlande. (une Irlande)

But if the place is considered to be masculine or is in the plural, such as Les Comores or Les Nouvelles-Hébrides, le Japon then it will be aux/à as normal.

Il habite aux Comores/aux Nouvelle-Hébrides/aux Sychelles/au Japon/au Sri Lanka.

Yes, I used want to scream when it came to using the correct prepositions with place names.  Now I am used it and so I scream less...

[Marcy Sheiner]

How do you ask the question: "Where do you live?" or "Where are you from"?

[Frank]

Hello Marcy,

"Where do you live?":

You can just ask "Où habites-tu ?" (formal) or "Tu habites où ?" (grammatically incorrect, but conversational).

"Where are you from" would be "D'où es-tu ?" (formal) or "Tu es d'où ?" (incorrect but conversational).

Of course you can refine the question, for instance with "de quelle ville" (from which city) or "de quel pays" (from which country) instead of "d'où" (where from).

Hope it helps,

-Frank.

[Frank]

By the way, you can see that in conversational French, it's very, very, very common to place question words like "quand", "où", "d'où", "comment", "qui" at the end of the sentence, not at the beginning. And when it happens, the subject and the verb aren't swapped.

Formal:

Où habites-tu ?
D'où viens-tu ?
Quand allez-vous au cinéma ?
Qui as-tu vu ?
Comment t'appelles-tu ?

Incorrect, but very, very, very common in real speech (and sounds like a native speaker):

Tu habites où ?
Tu viens d'où ?
Vous allez au cinéma quand ? ou : Vous allez quand au cinéma ?
Tu as vu qui ?
Tu t'appelles comment ?

The "Que" word can also be placed at the end of the sentence, but it becomes "Quoi" :

Que fais-tu ? => Tu fais quoi ?
Que lis-tu ? => Tu lis quoi ?
Que manges-tu ? => Tu manges quoi ?

You can use this structure in emails to friends, but never use it in formal letters. But try to use it in speech. Even with your boss, you can use it.

[Crack1]

Merci Frank

One of my French teachers used the following:

Où habites-vous?

Do you think it is equal to 'Où habites-tu'?

[Frank]

"Tu" vs "Vous" is confusing to English speakers, because both mean "You".

"Tu": applies to only one person. You should use "tu" with anyone you know very well, like friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. You shouldn't use "tu" with someone you meet for the first time or someone you need to show respect for.

"Vous": applies either to a group of persons, or to an individual that you need to show respect for, or that you don't know much.


So:

- "Où habites-tu ?" or "tu habites où ?" : this is what you would say to a friend

- "Où habitez-vous ?" or "vous habitez où ?" : this is what you would say to a group of friends. Or this is what you would say to a stranger. Or this is what you would say to your boss (unless he looks cool enough to be considered as a friend).

If you hook up with a French girl, start with "Vous" and don't switch to "Tu" before she has disclosed her first name :)