Prepositions with Countries & Cities
देशों और शहरों के परसर्ग
Saying 'in' or 'to' a country in French depends entirely on that country's grammatical gender — Hindi's postposition में stays exactly the same for every country, so this is a genuinely new three-way split to learn, not a re-mapping of an existing Hindi habit.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
en for feminine countries, au for masculine, aux for plural — में never varies
en France, au Japon, aux États-Unis
फ़्रांस में, जापान में, संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका में
Most countries ending in -e are feminine (la France, la Chine, l'Inde) and take en with no article: en France ('in/to France'). Masculine countries take au (le Japon → au Japon). Plural-named countries take aux (les États-Unis → aux États-Unis). A handful of masculine countries end in -e anyway and must be memorized as exceptions: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Zimbabwe. Hindi's में does none of this sorting — फ़्रांस में, जापान में, अमेरिका में all take the identical postposition, so this three-way gendered split is a genuinely new habit to build, with nothing in Hindi's own grammar to lean on.
Masculine countries starting with a vowel still take en
en Iran, en Afghanistan (not au Iran)
ईरान में, अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में
For euphony, masculine countries that begin with a vowel sound take en instead of au — the same liaison-driven logic that turns le/la into l' before a vowel. Hindi में is unaffected by the first sound of the following word, so this exception has no Hindi analogue either — it's purely a French pronunciation habit to notice and imitate.
Cities take à, with no article — Hindi's में covers cities the same way it covers countries
à Paris, à Tokyo, à New York
पेरिस में, टोक्यो में, न्यूयॉर्क में
Cities are simpler: à works for every city regardless of gender, and cities generally don't take an article at all (unlike countries). Hindi again reaches for the same में it already uses everywhere, whether the destination is a country or a city — पेरिस में, फ़्रांस में — so while French makes you switch between à (cities) and en/au/aux (countries), Hindi's में glides across both categories without changing at all. A few French cities have a built-in article as part of their name (Le Caire, La Havane) and combine with à normally: au Caire, à La Havane.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
- Hindi
- फ़्रांस मेंfrāns meñ
- English
- in/to France
- Hindi
- भारत मेंbhārat meñ
- English
- in/to India
- Hindi
- जापान मेंjāpān meñ
- English
- in/to Japan
- Hindi
- कनाडा मेंkanāḍā meñ
- English
- in/to Canada
- Hindi
- संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका मेंsaṃyukt rājya amerikā meñ
- English
- in/to the United States
- Hindi
- नीदरलैंड मेंnīdarlaiṇḍ meñ
- English
- in/to the Netherlands
- Hindi
- ईरान मेंīrān meñ
- English
- in/to Iran
- Hindi
- पेरिस मेंperis meñ
- English
- in/to Paris
- Hindi
- लंदन मेंlandan meñ
- English
- in/to London
- Hindi
- मेक्सिकोmeksiko
- English
- Mexico