en vs à

Question

Où habites-tu? j'habite à Barcelone.Why using ( en ) instead of (à ) in this sentence is incorrect?!

Accepted Answer

This has been addressed in previous responses below the lesson. 
Prepositions of place are used differently in French  as per links below:
The prepositions of place are à/de for cities.
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-use-a-to-in-and-de-from-of-with-cities-prepositions?
En/au(x) are used with countries
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/use-en-with-feminine-countries-and-aux-with-masculine-countries-to-say-in-or-to-prepositions?
En/dans with regions/states etc 
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/prepositions-with-regions-states-counties?

Answer

Hi Amira,The verb habiter is used in a transitive indirect form to express "to have domicile".Therefore we have "habiter à (domicile)" where à is the required preposition.Hope this helps.Jim