In French, to say that a place or a person is (at) a certain distance from somewhere, you use the expression:
à [distance] de [lieu]
How to express distances with "à ... de ..." in French
Look at these examples:
Note that the distance can be expressed as a duration - 5 minutes from Paris - or as a physical distance - 5 km from Paris.
ATTENTION:
In French, you must always use à before the distance:
Je suis cinq minutes de Paris. -> Je suis à cinq minutes de Paris.
Note also that when locations are introduced by the definite articles le and les, de contracts into du and des :
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Examples and resources
Expressing distance in French with "à ... de ..." = (at) ... km from ... (French Prepositions)
What are the differences between these two sentences?
Please help for the following :
What are the differences between these two sentences
1) Il habite à dix minutes de Marseille.
2) Il habite à 10 min de Marseille.
My answer was the number one, but the Kwiziq marked it wrong.
Thank you!
Hi CC,
The only question with ' ... à 10 minutes de Marseille' uses a different subject -
Could you have possibly changed what was asked of you as the part of your answer you are querying should be accepted?
If this is not the case, please report to the Helpdesk.
Hope this helps!
What are the differences between these two sentences?
Please help for the following :
What are the differences between these two sentences
1) Il habite à dix minutes de Marseille.
2) Il habite à 10 min de Marseille.
My answer was the number one, but the Kwiziq marked it wrong.
Thank you!
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"à 2 heures de Chartes" vs "à 2h de Chartres"
My nearly correct answer was "à 2 heures de Chartes". Why was it not completely correct?
By the way, according to the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures), the official way to abbreviate "2 heures" is not "2h" but rather "2 h" with a space. See page 149 of
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/41483022/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf
Hi Robert,
You must have read my mind!
I have been working on a standardization of our editorial regarding SI units and this lesson cropped up.
It has now been updated to respect international norms.
bonne Continuation !
If you wrote your answer exactly as indicated in your question, you misspelled ‘Chartres’ as ‘Chartes’. This doesn’t affect ‘the bot’s confidence in you’ as I understand it, but just highlights a minor and otherwise inconsequential error.
I agree that the use of ‘2h’ in the lesson example is technically incorrect and should be corrected to ‘2 h’ .
"à 2 heures de Chartes" vs "à 2h de Chartres"
My nearly correct answer was "à 2 heures de Chartes". Why was it not completely correct?
By the way, according to the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures), the official way to abbreviate "2 heures" is not "2h" but rather "2 h" with a space. See page 149 of
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/41483022/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf
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10 mins and 10 minutes are BOTH correct
To all those who are confused about why 10 mins etc. is correct and 10 minutes is wrong, please ignore the given explanations as they make no sense whatsoever. They are both correct!
Dear Sid,
We have just updated this lesson to remove some of the confusion.
As far as SI units are concerned, the plural of 'min' (abbreviation of minute) is tolerated in colloquial texts, (text messages, dialogues, vernacular) but not in academic or scientific literature.
We have therefore decided to accept it as correct.
Hope this helps and bonne continuation !
10 mins and 10 minutes are BOTH correct
To all those who are confused about why 10 mins etc. is correct and 10 minutes is wrong, please ignore the given explanations as they make no sense whatsoever. They are both correct!
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10 minutes from= a 10 mins de
I do not understand why a 10 minutes de is wrong, and a 10 mins de is right. I have not yet seen the latter given as an example.
Hi Virginia,
Did you write a or à? Perhaps this is the simple explanation? Otherwise, suggest you file an error report.
Jim
Hi Virginia,
Which Kwiz question are you referring to so that I can check that both 'minutes' and the abbreviation 'mins' are accepted ?
10 minutes from= a 10 mins de
I do not understand why a 10 minutes de is wrong, and a 10 mins de is right. I have not yet seen the latter given as an example.
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À deux heures de v à 2 h de
Why is it incorrect to write “à deux heures de” rather than “à 2 h de?”
Bonjour Vivienne,
"à deux heures de / à 2 h de" are both correct. However, if you forget to add 'Chartres' in the answer, it will be given as wrong.
I hope this helpful.
Bonne journée !
À deux heures de v à 2 h de
Why is it incorrect to write “à deux heures de” rather than “à 2 h de?”
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a 2h vs a 2 heures
why is 2h preferable to 2heures? writing the word got me marked as nearly correct
Bonjour Carol,
" à 2heures " is a nearly correct answer because there is always a space between the number and the full written word
" à 2 heures " - " à 3 kilomètres "
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
a 2h vs a 2 heures
why is 2h preferable to 2heures? writing the word got me marked as nearly correct
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De plus infinitive verb
Hello,
I have a question. I am working on this sentence. Elle menace de partir for the present tense.
I was wondering why they use de partir instead of à meaning to leave.
Thanks
Nicole
The correct usage is menacer quelqu'un de faire quelque chose. Many verbs take de and others take à. Some even take both and change meaning. Best you learn the prepositions to use along with the verb.
De plus infinitive verb
Hello,
I have a question. I am working on this sentence. Elle menace de partir for the present tense.
I was wondering why they use de partir instead of à meaning to leave.
Thanks
Nicole
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Numbers v numerals
The test answers are inconsistent; sometimes dix is changed to 10 and minutes to min and heurs to h. And sometimes not! IMHO if it is written as a word in the question then it should be written as a word in the answer ie ten = dix and hours = heurs.
Numbers v numerals
The test answers are inconsistent; sometimes dix is changed to 10 and minutes to min and heurs to h. And sometimes not! IMHO if it is written as a word in the question then it should be written as a word in the answer ie ten = dix and hours = heurs.
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Hello, Thank you for this lesson. Would we use 'de la' if the lieu is féminin? I only saw a mention of du/des. Thank you.
Hi Elizabeth,
Yes, you could say for example -
"Nous sommes à 5 km de la maison "
Hope this helps!
Thank you!
Hello, Thank you for this lesson. Would we use 'de la' if the lieu is féminin? I only saw a mention of du/des. Thank you.
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I’m vs kilometres
Bonjour Marnie !
I've had a look at your Correction Board, and Chris's intuition was right: you forgot the accent on "kilometres", hence the Nearly Correct mark :)
When reporting about specific scoring issues, please use the "Report it" button in your Correction Board, which sends us a link straight to the question you're referring to :)
Bonne journée !
I’m vs kilometres
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In the quiz it marked wrong when I spelled out dix minutes. in the answer it had 10 mins
There is an error in the answer: "minutes" has somehow been truncated to "mins"
I would like to point out that if the English phrase to be translated spells out "ten" then so should the answer. Also, I was taught in school that the grammer "guideline" (not rule) is that numbers zero through ten should be spelled out in sentences .
After all these notifications a response or correction is overdue
In the quiz it marked wrong when I spelled out dix minutes. in the answer it had 10 mins
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This doesn't quite seem like a reasonable thing to count as a miss:
Unfortunately, I cannot see which question you're referring to when you contact us through the Q&A section.
If you have a specific question-related issue, please click the "Report it" button next to the relevant question in your Correction Board.
À bientôt !
Bonjour Bonnie !
I've had a look at your Correction Board, and the reason you were marked down is that you wrote "à dix minuts de Marseille" which was incorrect.
"à dix minutes de Marseille" as well as other alternatives are accepted as correct by the system :)
For similar questions, in the future please use the "Report it" button in your Correction Board, as it links directly to the specific quiz take you're referring to, and makes it easier for us to answer you :)
Bonne journée !
2 hours from chartes I wrote as à deux heures de chartes and it was marked wrong giving the correct response of à 2h de chartes??????
This doesn't quite seem like a reasonable thing to count as a miss:
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