Why "Mon père est dans le prison." incorrect?
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Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
4/01/18
The correct expression is "mon père est en prison" because it means 'incarcerated' which is a general statement as explained in the lesson above.
Note the absence of the article (by the way prison is feminine so it would have been la prison).
Chris
Kwiziq community member
4/01/18
Just to comment further. If you say "mon père est dans le prison. " It doesn't mean he is incarcerated but more like he is in the building.
-- Chris (not a native speaker)

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
4/01/18
very good point!
Something like " mon père travaille dans la prison de Fresnes."
Helen
Kwiziq community member
6/01/18
CORRECT
Helen
Kwiziq community member
6/01/18
IT SHOULD SAY "MON PERE EST EN PRISON."
Pat
Kwiziq community member
15/06/18
I have exactly the same question. An example later on uses dans la when saying "there is a riot in the prison" My firstt inclination is that they are using prison in the dans only sentence to indicate prison as place in general, but what if there is only one prison he could be in?
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richa
Kwiziq community member
4 January 2018
6 replies
Why "Mon père est dans le prison." incorrect?
This question relates to:
French lesson "En vs dans with locations (prepositions)"