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Asking for and giving directions in French: essential terms

Updated: Mar 29, 2023



Asking for directions is something normal, as anyone has been lost once or might be again. If you are in a French-speaking context, it will be worth knowing words like "où est/where is" or basic phrases like excusez- moi (excuse me), s'il vous plaît (please), or c'est (it is).


In this lesson, you are going to learn words and expressions used to ask for directions and how to reply to them. You will start by learning some keywords and phrases like names of places in the city, compass directions, useful verbs, and some prepositions of place. Keep on reading till the end, to be able to practice what you've learned.




How to ask for directions in French





French Words for the names of places in town


To be able to find your way, it is important to make sure that you know the names of places in the city. A place in French can be translated as un endroit, or un lieu. Here are a few of the common must-know places in town.

  • L'aéroport: airport

  • L’arrêt de bus: bus stop

  • La banque: bank

  • La bibliothèque: library

  • La boulangerie: bakery

  • La boutique / le magasin : shop

  • Le café: café

  • Le commissariat de police: police station

  • L'école: school

  • L'église: church

  • La gare: station (bus station or train station)

  • L'hôpital: hospital

  • L'hôtel: hotel

  • La mairie / l’hôtel de ville: the town hall

  • Le marché: market

  • La mosquée: mosque

  • Le parc: park

  • La pharmacie: pharmacy

  • La poste: post office

  • Le restaurant: restaurant

  • Le supermarché: supermarket

  • Le temple: temple


Useful direction verbs to know


The list of verbs below will be very useful for understanding directions. Most of them are movement verbs but not all of them are generally used with être in the passé composé tense.


  • Être => to be

  • Aller => to go

  • Chercher => to look for

  • Continuer => to continue

  • Tourner => to turn

  • Traverser => to cross

  • Dépasser=> to pass

  • Longer => to go along/walk along

  • Marcher => to walk

  • Monter => to go up

  • Passer => to go past

  • prendre => to take

  • Descendre => to go down

  • Vouloir => To want


French verbs for directions - les verbes de direction



The four cardinal points in French


Another thing that is essential will be knowing how to tell directions according to the compass. So, what are the four cardinal points in French?

  • l'est => east

  • l'ouest => west

  • le nord => north

  • le sud => south.

Remember that we use the preposition à + definite article when telling directions. So, you may use ''au" instead of "à le". Examples: C'est au nord de la France. / C'est au sud de l'Allemagne./C'est à l'est du Ghana. / C'est à l'ouest du Canada.

When a place has a mixed position, you can use a combination of the cardinal points such as

  • le nord-ouest => North-west

  • le nord-est => North-south

  • le sud-est => South-east

  • le sud-ouest => South-west


Les 4 points cardinaux - 4 cardinal points in French -Compass directions

Prepositions of place used to give directions


Prepositions are very useful while building sentences and especially prepositions of place when you are showing someone a direction. Here are useful prepositions that I strongly recommend you to learn to be able to tell and understand directions.


  • devant => in front

  • derrière => behind

  • à coté de / près de => near, next to

  • loin de => far from

  • en face de => facing, opposite

  • entre => in between

  • avant => before

  • après => after


Common road names and traffic words


Below is the list of common words related to road and traffic vocabulary.


  • L'autoroute => highway, expressway

  • L'avenue => avenue

  • Le boulevard => boulevard

  • Le carrefour giratoire => roundabout

  • Le feu rouge => traffic light

  • Le pont => bridge

  • le rond-point=> roundabout, square

  • La route = road

  • La rue => street

  • Le panneau de signalisation => road signal


How to ask for directions in French?


The first basic phrase to learn is Where is (où est) or where are (où sont). Once you know those, it becomes easy to ask for your way. You just have to add the name of the place that you are looking for.

Examples:

  • Où est la banque?=> Where is the bank?

  • Où sont les toilettes? => Where are the toilets/washrooms?

Another easy way is to use où se trouve/où se trouvent instead of où est/où sont. The meaning still remains the same.

Examples :

  • Où se trouve la poste? => Where is the post office?

  • Où se trouvent les toilettes? => Where are the toilets?


There are other expressions to ask for direction. The words in bold can be replaced by any other place that you are looking for.


Here are examples of these expressions.


  • Je voudrais aller au musée. c'est où? => I would like to go to the museum. Where is it?

  • Comment je peux me rendre à l'aéroport? => How do I get to the airport?

  • Je voudrais aller au restaurant. Comment je peux m'y rendre? => I would like to go to the restaurant. How can I get there?

  • Vous savez où se trouve le restaurant? => Do you know where is the restaurant?

  • Pour aller à l'église, c'est par où? => How do I go to the church?

  • Où est-ce que je peux trouver une pharmacie? => Where can I find a pharmacy?

  • Où est l’hôpital le plus proche? => Where is the nearest hospital? (Use la plus proche with a feminine noun; eg. la boulangerie la plus proche)

  • La banque, c'est loin d'ici? => Is the bank far from here?

  • Le marché est près d'ici? => Is the market close to here?


In general, when you talk to a stranger, it is polite to say excusez-moi before starting your request, and end it by s'il vous plaît. Example: Excusez-moi, où se trouve l’arrêt de bus s'il vous plait? Excuse me, where is the bus stop please?



How to reply or understand directions?


When you ask for directions people may reply to you with typical phrases. The same goes when you are the one giving directions and explanations.

Here are the most commons terms you should know.


  • À droite => on the right or to the right

  • À gauche => on the left or to the left

  • Tournez à gauche => turn left

  • Tournez à droite => turn right

  • Tout droit => straight

  • Allez tout droit => go straight

  • Allez jusque +name place => go until you reach ...

  • Continuez tout droit => continue straight

  • Traversez la rue/le pont => Cross Street/ the bridge

  • Prenez la première rue à droite => Take the first street on the right

  • C'est la première à droite => It's the first street on the right

  • C'est la deuxième à gauche=> It's the second street on the left

  • C'est par ici => It's this way

  • C'est par là => it's that way

  • C'est à droite => It's on the right

  • C'est à gauche => It's on the left

  • C'est à coté du supermarché => It's near the supermarket

  • C'est au bout de la rue => It's at the end of the street

  • C'est au coin de la rue => It's at the corner of the street

  • C'est la prochaine rue à gauche => It's the next street on the left

Note that when asking and giving directions, the most commonly used pronoun is "vous". However, if you are talking to someone you are familiar with, using 'tu" would be more appropriate. If you want to learn more about the use of tu and vous, check out this article.


How much did you learn about directions in French? Practice exercise


Here is an exercise for more practice on your directional words.





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For more content related to directions


  • I recommend watching this funny youtube video : it's great for learning more about directions. It is adapted from the famous French movie " le gendarme et gendarmettes" (1982) with Louis de Funès by the Youtuber Doctor French. Here is the link.

  • If you want to practice on cardinal points, you can use this worksheet from the website ISLCollective for those who are not members of the site.


 

I hope this was useful. If you like this post, consider sharing it with other people who might be interested. Merci.





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