French prepositions of manner are a grammatical category used to define the relationship between different parts of a sentence. They facilitate communicating means, quantities, fabrics, and many other attributes of objects defined by nouns.
What Are French Prepositions of Manner?
Apart from prepositions of time and prepositions of place, there are also prepositions of manner in the French language. The last category refers to prepositions which link words in such a way so as to provide grammatical concord and allow of expressing specific meaning.
On a little side note, manner can be expressed also with other grammatical categories. The most frequent way of expressing manner, apart from prepositions of manner, is the use of adverbs.
French Prepositions of Manner
As compared to other types of prepositions, the list of French prepositions of manner is not long. The key difficulty lies in the number of contexts to which one and the same preposition can be applied:
à – is used in many meanings:
- to express purpose: C'est une verre à vin;
- to express means: Il faut écrire au crayon;
- to express price: Le kilo est à dix euros;
- to describe means of transport: à pied, à vélo;
- to desribed distance: L'hôtel est à dix kilometres d'ici.
avec – means literally "with" and can be used to express means or tool: Il ouvre la porte avec la clé.
de – is used in many meanings:
- to name parts of the body: Il fait signe de la tête;
- to name cloth or material: Regardez! C'est du bois massif;
- to express reason or cause: Ils ont crié de peur;
- to express quantity: Il faut achéter deux litres de lait.
- en - is used in many meanings:
- to name means of transport or way of commuting/journeying: J'y vais en avion;
- to name material or fabric: J'ai une mautre en or.
Exception to the rule – à vélo.
par - is used in many meanings:
- to name manner and means: par avion;
- to identify the source of something: J'ai appuis la nouvelle par le journal;
- to name the reason for a specific action: Il a avoué par peur d'aller en prison;
- to describe the quantity of something: 500 euros par personne.
pour – is used in two meanings:
- to express purpose: J'étudie pour obtenir uno bonne education;
- to name the price of something: J'ai achété ce livre pour 20 euros.
As can be seen from the above list, quite often several prepositions are applicable to the same context. Students should beware of having them mixed up, as they can significantly alter the meaning of a sentence. It takes many repetitions and exercises before students acquire fluency in the use of French prepositions of manner. Whenever unsure, they should consult French collocations dictionary.
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