En vs Dans with locations (French Prepositions of Location)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2024-10-07

131 questions

How to use dans and en with locations in French

Dans (+ un/une, le/la/l'/les, des) and en are both used to mean in a location (town, class...).

Look at these contrasting examples:

Je suis en classe.I'm in class.

Je suis dans la classe.I'm in the classroom.

The nuance between dans la and en is as follows:

- dans + [article] + [noun] refers to the physical place or building - i.e. inside.
= in/inside/at + the/a/his + [place]

Il y a une boulangerie dans la ville.There is a bakery in the town.

Il y a eu une émeute dans la prison.There's been a riot in the prison.

Les leçons ont lieu dans son école d'ingénieur.Classes take place at her engineering school.

- en + [noun] refers to a place in general, or to the function represented by the place.
= in [place]

Je vais en ville.I'm going to town.

Le voleur est en prison pour deux ans.The thief is in jail for two years. -> refers to the jail sentence.

Ma fille est en école d'ingénieur cette année.My daughter is in engineering school this year. -> refers to studying there.

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Préposition

Examples and resources

Je suis dans ma classe de françaisI'm in my French class

Je suis en classe de françaisI'm in French class