Lesson 8: à

The French word à is a little word that gets a lot of use. It means to, although the rules for using it aren't quite the same as they are in English.

In some cases you can use the word à as it is, with no modification. For example, you could say:

Je donne le livre à mon frère.
I give the book to my brother.

If, however, the word à is followed by the article le, l'a, les, or l' followed by a vowel, you'll need to modify it so that it will agree with the noun.

à + le = au*
à + la = à la
à + les = aux*
à + l' (followed by a vowel) = à + l' (followed by a vowel)

*note that the terms à le and à les do not exist in French -- they have to be modified.

So, for example:

Je marche au musée.
I walk to the museum.

Je marche à la bibliothèque.
I walk to the library.

Je marche aux maisons.
I walk to the houses.

Je marche à l'école.
I walk to school.

Vocabulary:
Le musée = the museum
La bibliothèque = the library
La maison = the house
L'école (f) = the school