How to talk about where you live in French?

cottage in the mountains

To talk about where you live in French is not that complicated. You just need to know how to conjugate the verb “habiter” (to live) in the present tense, learn some basic vocabulary and understand a little grammar rule. Let’s start!

Conjugating the verb “habiter” to talk about where you live in French

In French, to talk about where you live, we use the verb “habiter” (to live). So to start, let’s see how to conjugate this verb.

“Habiter” is an “ER” verb from the first group. Which means it is a regular verb. You only needs to remove “ER” of the infinitive verb and add the following endings in the present tense: e, es, e, ons, ez, ent.

J’habite
Tu habites
Il/Elle habite
Nous habitons
Vous habitez
Ils/Elles habitent

I live
You live
He/She lives
We live
You live
They live

To build negative sentences, we add “ne pas” around the verb “Je n’habite pas”.

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Conjugating first group verbs in French


Talking about where you live in French

In French, to talk about where you live, you can mention the type of home you are living in (house, flat…) or you can say in which country or city you live in. So, we are going to see how to build sentences.

Types of home

-To talk about the type of home you are living in, we will start the sentence with “j’habite dans…” (I live in…).

J’habite dans (I live in)
Tu habite dans (you live in)
Nous habitons dans (we live in)

un appartement (a flat)
une maison (a house)
un immeuble (a block of flats)
une ferme (a farm)

-You can add adjectives to describe your home.

J’habite dans (I live in)
Tu habites dans (you live in)
Nous habitons dans (we live in)

un petit appartment (a small flat)
un grand appartement (a big flat)
un joli appartement (a pretty flat)
une petite maison (a small house)
une grande maison (a big house)
une jolie maison (a pretty house)

Countries and cities

To talk about the country or city you live in, we will say “j’habite en/au/aux/à”. So let’s see together when do you use “en”, “au, “aux and ” à”.

“En” is used for countries that are feminine “j’habite en France” (I live in France), “France” is female, we say “la France”.

“Au” is used for countries that are masculine “j’habite au Canada” (I live in Canada), “Canada” is male, we say “le Canada”.

“Aux” is used for plurals “j’habites aux Etats-Unis” (I live in United States), “Etats-Unis” is plural, we say “les Etats-Unis”.

” à” is used for cities “j’habite à Paris” (I live in Paris).

Examples of female countries:
L’Espagne (Spain)
L’Angleterre (England)
La Chine (China)
L’Argentine (Argentina)
La Colombie (Colombia)
L’Inde (India)

Examples of male countries:
Le Portugal (Portugal)
Le Mexique (Mexico)
Le Pays de Galles (Wales)
Le Brésil (Brazil)
Le Japon (Japan)
Le Danemark (Denmark)
Le Maroc (Morocco)
Le Liban (Lebanon)
Le Pérou (Peru)

Further examples

Nous habitons dans une petite maison en Allemagne.
We live in a small house in Germany.

Ils habitent dans une grande maison en Australie.
They live in a big house in Australia.

Tu habites dans un appartement à Marseille.
You live in a flat in Marseille.

J’habite en Angleterre (I live in England) and you, where do you live? Let me know in the comments!

A bientôt!

2 thoughts on “How to talk about where you live in French?

  1. Nèd says:

    Please correct the following:
    J’habites
    Male and female countries

    Reply

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