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In French, the preposition "chez" is used to express "at/to someone's place/etc" but not only.
How to use chez in French
"Chez" = at or to [someone]'s place/shop/house
Nous allons chez Marc.We're going to Marc's house.
On se retrouvera chez ma mère.We'll meet at my mother's place.
Il y a une piscine magnifique chez eux.There's a beautiful swimming pool at their house.
Je suis chez le coiffeur.I'm at the hairdresser's.
J'aime bien le réceptionniste chez ma dentiste.I like the receptionist at my dentist's.
Most of the time, chez means at or to [someone]'s place/shop/house.
It can be followed with:
- a name / person (Marc, ma mère...)
- a stress pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles)
-> Note that you don't use a possessive like in English.
- a professional's name (le coiffeur, ma dentiste...) to refer to their business place.
-> Note that it's the name of the professional you use, not the business itself:
You say chez le boulanger but à la boulangerie.
"Chez" = at home or in [someone]'s life/personality
Ils sont chez eux.They're home.
Tout va bien chez vous?Is everything good with you?
Faites comme chez vous Make yourself at home
Chez can also be used in a more general sense to express at home or in [someone]'s life.
ATTENTION:
Case of "à la maison" vs "chez moi"
When used in this context, maison is closer to home than literally house: and just as in English, you would never say I'm going to my home, but I'm going home. Thus, in French, you will never use à ma maison / à ta maison..., but you will use instead the generic à la maison.
Here, you can also use chez moi (at/to my place) as well as à la maison (at home/home):
Here, you can also use chez moi (at/to my place) as well as à la maison (at home/home):
Je rentre chez moi.I'm going back home.
Je rentre à la maison.I'm going back home.
When talking about someone else's home, once again you cannot use à ta maison, à sa maison in French: therefore, the only solution is to use chez :
Il vient chez toi plus tard.He's coming to your place later.
Je suis passé par chez elle ce matin.I passed by her place this morning.
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