Using dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière, entre to say in, on top of, under, in front of, behind (prepositions)

2019-02-06

The following prepositions are used to indicate relative physical positions of one thing to another :

dans	in/inside
sur	on/on top of
devant	in front of
derrière	behind
entre	between
sous	underneath

Now look at these examples:

La lampe est sur le bureau.The lamp is on the desk.

La boulangerie est dans le centre commercial.The bakery is in the shopping mall.

Il est devant la poste.He is in front of the post office.

Je suis assis entre Léa et Tim.I'm sitting between Léa and Tim.

Qui est derrière toi?Who is behind you?

Ta chaussure est sous le lit.Your shoe is under the bed.

ATTENTION:

Although the prepositions above are straighforward, in general, the choice of which preposition to use in different contexts varies.
You can't translate literally to/from English, but you will learn through experience!

Grammar Note:
Prepositions are words that are placed before a noun indicating the noun's relationship to another word in the sentence. (pre position = place before)

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Braimap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Préposition

Examples and resources

A cartoon to demonstrate simple pronouns!

Et le vieux monsieur, Descend vers le village, And the old man,
Goes down towards the village,

dans = in/inside