Why dans le and not en

Question

I don’t understand why it’s « Je vais __dans le______ Merseyside la semaine prochaine. »Merseyside ends with an « e » so should be feminine and use « en. »

Maarten Kamp · Answer

KS,

see the note below and the link it is from.

English counties are ‘ masculine ‘ in French, whether they end with ‘ e ‘ or not. Just the way it is - don’t try to understand !

“ Case of English counties

English counties, including the ones ending in "-shire" and Merseyside, are masculine...

Ils habitent dans le Yorkshire. They live in Yorkshire.

Je travaille dans le Hampshire. I work in Hampshire.

Le Merseyside est un comté anglais qui comprend Liverpool. Merseyside is an English county that includes Liverpool. “

Continents/countries/counties/regions/states are masculine, feminine or plural in French (Gender)