au
/o/
In French, au means 'to the'.
au is a prepositional phrase used to indicate movement toward a specific place.
What does it mean word for word?
The form au is a contraction of the preposition à (to) and the masculine singular article le (the).
How does it change in a sentence?
The form you use for 'to the' depends on the gender and number of the destination. Use au for masculine singular destinations. Use à la when the destination is feminine. If the destination begins with a vowel or a silent 'h', use à l' instead of au or à la. When the destination is plural, change au to aux.
How do you pronounce it?
/o/
Did you know?
- While au usually means 'to the', it is also used to describe a flavor or a main ingredient. For example, une glace au chocolat is 'a chocolate ice cream'.
- The phrase au revoir literally means 'until seeing again'. Here, au acts as a marker for a future event rather than a physical destination.
- The term au courant uses the contraction to mean 'up to date' or 'informed'. It literally suggests being 'to the current' of a stream.
Examples in context
- Mort au roi !Death to the king!This sentence shows an exclamation directed toward the king using au.Tatoeba #3705828 by GB3, translation #3704852 by shekitten
- Va au Diable !To the devil with you!This sentence uses au in a common idiomatic expression to tell someone to go away.Tatoeba #3218975 by sacredceltic, translation #448192 by rul
- Va au magasin !Go to the store!This sentence uses au to indicate movement toward a store.Tatoeba #1123077 by sacredceltic, translation #1121840 by cntrational
- Je vais à la plage.I am going to the beach.
- Je vais au cinéma.I am going to the cinema.
- Je vais aux restaurants.I am going to the restaurants.
- Je vais à la bibliothèque.I am going to the library.
- Je vais chez le médecin.I am going to the doctor's (place).
- 2116 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Chloé are deciding where to go for lunch.
- LucasOn va au restaurant ?Shall we go to the restaurant?
- ChloéOui, c'est une bonne idée.Yes, that's a good idea.
- LucasJe vais au parking chercher la voiture.I'm going to the parking lot to get the car.
- ChloéD'accord, je t'attends ici.Okay, I'll wait for you here.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry au, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
