Despite its diminutive size, à is a hugely important French  une tasse à thé > teacup; cup for tea

preposition and one of the most important words in the  un sac à dos > backpack; pack for the back
French language. Its meanings and uses in French are
many and varied, but at its most basic, à generally means 8. In the passive infinitive
'to,' 'at' or 'in.' Compare à to de, meaning
'of' or
'from,' with which it's often confused.  À louer > for rent
'À' Contractions  Je n'ai rien à lire.  > I have nothing to read.                
When à is followed by the definite
articles le and les, à contracts with them 9. With Certain Verbs, Phrases Followed by an
as a single word. Infinitive
      For example  
  à + le = au au magasin   The French preposition à is required after certain verbs
  à + les = aux aux maisons   and phrases when they are followed by an infinitive. The
But à does not contract with la or l' English translation may take an infinitive (to learn how to
  à + la = à la à la banque   do something) or a gerund (to stop eating).
  à + l' = à l' à l'hôpital  
In addition, à is not contracted with  le and les when they     aider à > to help to
are direct objects.      s'amuser à > to amuse oneself ___-ing
    apprendre à > to learn how to
Common Uses of 'À'     s'apprêter à > to get ready to

1. Location or destination     arriver à > to manage / succeed in ___-ing

    s'attendre à > to expect to
    s'autoriser à  > to authorize / allow to
 J'habite à Paris. > I live in Paris.
    avoir à > to have to / be obliged to
 Je vais à Rome. > I'm going to Rome.
    chercher à > to attempt to
 Je suis à la banque. > I'm at the bank.
    commencer à > to begin to / ___-ing
    consentir à > to consent to
2. Distance in time or space
    continuer à > to continue to / ___-ing
    décider (quelqu'un) à > to persuade (someone)
 J'habite à 10 mètres de lui. > I live 10 meters from to
him.     se décider à > to make up one's mind to
 Il est à 5 minutes de moi. > He is 5 minutes from     encourager à > to encourage to
me.      s'engager à > to get around to
    enseigner à > to teach to
3. Point in time     s'habituer à > to get used to
    hésiter à > to hesitate to
 Nous arrivons à 5h00. > We arrive at 5:00.     s'intéresser à > to be interested in
 Il est mort à 92 ans. > He died at the age of 92.     inviter  (quelqu'un) à > to invite (someone) to
    se  mettre à > to start, set about ___-ing
4. Manner, style, or characteristic     obliger à > to oblige to
    parvenir à > to succeed in ___-ing
 Il habite à la française. > He lives in the French     passer du temps à  > to spend time ___-ing
style.     perdre du temps à > to waste time ___-ing
 un enfant aux yeux bleus  > blue-eyed child; child     persister à > to persist in ___-ing
with blue eyes     se plaire à > to take pleasure in ___-ing
 fait à la main > made by hand
 aller à pied > to go on / by foot     pousser  (quelqu'un) à > to urge/push (someone)
to
5. Possession      se préparer à > to prepare oneself to
     recommencer à > to begin ___-ing again
 un ami à moi > a friend of mine     réfléchir à > to consider ___-ing
 Ce livre est à Jean > This is Jean's book      renoncer à > to give up ___-ing
     résister à  > to resist ___-ing
6. Measurement     réussir à > to succeed in ___-ing
    rêver à > to dream of ___-ing
 acheter au kilo > to buy by the kilogram
 payer à la semaine > to pay by the week     servir à > to serve to
    songer à > to dream of ___-ing
7. Purpose or use     tarder à > to delay / be late in ___-ing
     tenir à  > to hold (someone) to / insist on ___-ing
    venir à > to happen to
10. With Verbs That Need an Indirect Object      téléphoner à > to call
    voler (quelque chose) à quelqu'un  > to steal
The French preposition à is required after many French (something) from someone
verbs and phrases that need an indirect object, but there is
often no equivalent preposition in English.      Notes

    acheter à > to buy from Remember that à plus an inanimate noun can be replaced
    arracher à   > to grab, tear away from by the adverbial pronoun y. For example, je m'y suis
    assister à (la réunion) > to attend (the meeting) habitué > I got used to it.
    conseiller à > to advise
    convenir à (quelqu'un) / la situation > to please; À plus a person can usually be replaced by an indirect
to be suitable for someone / the situation object pronoun that is placed in front of the verb (e.g., Il
me parle). However, a few verbs and expressions do not
    croire à > to believe something allow a preceding indirect object pronoun. Instead, they
    demander (quelque chose) à (quelqu'un) > to ask require that you keep the preposition after the verb and
someone (something) follow it with a stressed pronoun (e.g., Je pense à toi)
    défendre à > to forbid
    demander à (quelqu'un) > to ask (someone) to À vs. De: French Prepositions
    déplaire à > to displease; to be displeasing to
    désobéir à > to disobey The French prepositions à and de cause constant
    dire à > to say; to tell problems for French students. Generally
    donner un stylo à (quelqu'un) > to give speaking, à means to, at, or in, while de means of or from.
(someone) a pen
    emprunter un livre à (quelqu'un)  > to borrow a Both prepositions have numerous uses and in order to
book from (someone) understand each better, it is best to compare them.
    envoyer (qqch)  à (quelqu'un) > to send
(something) to (someone)  Learn more about the preposition de.
    être à > to belong to  Learn more about the preposition à.
    faire attention à   > to pay attention to
    se fier à (quelqu'un) > to trust (someone) À De
    goûter à (quelque chose) > to taste (something)
Location or destination Starting point or origin
    s'habituer à > to get used to
Je vais à I'm going to partir de Nice to leave from (out
    interdire (quelque chose) à quelqu'un > to forbid Rome Rome of) Nice
someone (something)
Je suis à la I'm at the Je suis de I'm from Brussels
    s'intéresser à > to be interested in
banque  bank Bruxelles
    jouer à > to play (a game or sport)
    manquer à > to miss someone
    mêler à > to mingle with; to join in  
    nuire à > to harm Distance in time or space.
Note that à is used in front of the distance,
    obéir à > to obey while de indicates the starting point/origin.
    s'opposer à > to oppose Il habite à He lives 10 ...d'ici ...from here
    ordonner à > to order 10 mètres... meters...
    pardonner à > to pardon; to forgive C'est à 5 It's 5 ...de moi ...from me
minutes... minutes...
    parler à > to talk to
    penser à > to think of / about  
    permettre à  > to permit Possession Possession / belonging (Learn
more)
    plaire à > to please; to be pleasing to
    profiter à > to benefit; to be profitable to un ami à a friend of le livre de Paul Paul's book
moi mine
    promettre à > to promise
Ce livre est à This is Jean's le café de the university
Jean book l'université café
    réfléchir à > to consider; to reflect upon
    répondre à > to answer
    résister à > to resist    
    ressembler à > to resemble Purpose or use Contents / description
    réussir à l'examen > to pass the test une tasse à teacup (cup une tasse de cup of tea
    serrer la main à (quelqu'un) > to shake hands thé for tea) thé
with someone une boîte à matchbox une boîte box (full) of
    servir à > to be used for / as allumettes (box for d'allumettes matches
    songer à > to dream; to think of matches)
    succéder à > to succeed; to follow un sac à dos backpack un roman love story (story
    survivre à > to survive (pack for the d'amour about love)
À De Additional Uses of de
back)
  The preposition de also
has more uses than
Manner, style, Defining feature
or characteristic listed above. You will use it often when
fait à la made by le marché de wholesale market speaking of cause and the manner of
main hand gros
Il habite à la He lives in une salle de classroom
doing something.
française the French classe
style Cause
un enfant blue-eyed un livre history book mourir de faim to die of/from hunger
aux yeux child d'histoire fatigué du voyage tired from the trip
bleus  
Means/manner of doing something
écrire de la main to write with the left hand
   
gauche
Defining ingredient Indispensable ingredient
répéter de mémoire to recite from memory
Use à when the food is Use de when the food is made
made with something primarily of something -
that can be taken away generally speaking, you can Using à and de With Verbs
without destroying it - as translate it as "of" or "from." In
a general rule, you can the examples, if you take away It is essential to understand the difference between the
translate it as "with." In the blackcurrants or tomatoes, French prepositions à and de. The meaning of some verbs
the examples, if you take you're left with not much at all. depends on whether you use à  or de. For other verbs, both
out the ham or onion, you prepositions may be used in the same sentence.
still have a sandwich or
soup. It can be very confusing for students, but we will look at
un sandwich ham la crème de blackcurrant many examples and by the end of this lesson, you will be
au jambon sandwich cassis liqueur comfortable with how verbs interact with à and de.
la soupe à onion soup la soupe de tomato soup
l'oignon tomates In the following examples, abbreviations for 'someone' and
une tarte apple pie le jus d'orange orange juice 'something' are used. When using these verbs, simply
aux pommes replace the abbreviation with the nouns that
you're speaking of.
   
Impersonal Impersonal  qqun / s.o. - quelqu'un / someone
expressions: Real expressions: Dummy subject  qqch / s.t. - quelque chose / something
subject
C'est bon à That's good Il est bon It's good to study. Verbs With Different Meanings When à  or de Is Used
savoir. to know. d'étudier. (Studying is good)
C'est facile à That's easy Il est facile de It's easy to find it. One verb, two meanings. Each of these verbs can mean two
faire. to do. le trouver. (Finding it is different things depending on which preposition you use.
easy)
If you choose the wrong one, you might
Additional Uses of à
say "I neglected Jane" rather than "I miss
The use of à  is
not limited to the examples Jane." It can be embarrassing and you
above. Here are two more instances in should make sure to know the
which you will want to use this difference.
preposition.
décider à to persuade, convince
décider de to decide to
Measurement
acheter au kilo to buy by the kilogram
payer à la semaine to pay by the week    
  demander à to ask (for permission)
Point in time demander to ask (s.o. to do s.t.*)
Nous arrivons à We arrive at 5:00 de
5h00    
Il est mort à 92 ans He died at the age of 92 jouer à to play a game or sport
jouer de to play an instrument
   
manquer à to miss someone Verbs With à or de
manquer de to neglect (to do s.t.)
(more about manquer) There are a couple of French verbs that can
    take à or de  with little or no difference in
parler à to talk to
parler de to talk about
meaning
   
penser à to think about (imagine) commencer à / to start
penser de to think about (opinion) de
(more about penser) continuer à / de to continue
   
profiter à to benefit
profiter de to make the most of
   
venir à to happen to
venir de to have just (done s.t.)
(more about venir)

Verbs That Use Both à and de in the Same Sentence

The prepositions à and de can be used in a single sentence,

often when you want someone to do something. 

conseiller à qqun de faire qqch advise s.o. to do s.t.

défendre à qqun de faire qqch forbid s.o. to do s.t.
demander à qqun de faire qqc ask s.o. to do s.t.
h
dire à qqun de faire qqch tell s.o. to do s.t.
interdire à qqun de faire qqch forbid s.o. to do s.t.
ordonner à qqun de faire qqch order s.o. to do s.t.
permettre à qqun de faire qqc allow s.o. to do s.t.
h
promettre à qqun de faire qqc promise s.o. to do s.t.
h
téléphoner à qqun de faire  qqc call s.o. to do s.t.
h

Expressions With à and de

Yet another use for à and de is in common expressions.

Again, they often have similar meanings, yet they are
notably different. Remember the primary difference
between the prepositions:

 à means to, at, or in
 de means of or from

à côté nearby, next to de côté sideways

à côté de next to, beside du côté de from (direction)
à la at the level de hauteur [5 feet] tall
hauteur
il est à he's in Paris il est de he's from Paris
Paris Paris
prêt* à + prepared to prês* de + near, on the verge
inf.  inf. of
tasse à thé teacup (cup for tasse de thé cup of tea
tea)

* These are two different words, but because they are

homophones, it makes sense to include them here for
comparison.