Towns and cities

Occasionally the gender of a town is clear because the name includes the definite article, e.g. Le Havre or La Rochelle. In most other cases, there is some hesitation, and it is always safer to avoid the problem by using la ville de :

Toulouse is beautiful

= la ville de Toulouse est belle

In, to and from somewhere

For in and to with the name of a town, use à in French ; if the French name includes the definite article, à will become au, à la, à l’ or aux :

to live in Toulouse

= vivre à Toulouse

to go to Toulouse

= aller à Toulouse

to live in Le Havre

= vivre au Havre

to go to Le Havre

= aller au Havre

to live in La Rochelle

= vivre à La Rochelle

to go to La Rochelle

= aller à La Rochelle

to live in Les Arcs

= vivre aux Arcs

to go to Les Arcs

= aller aux Arcs

Similarly, from is de, becoming du, de la, de l’ or des when it combines with the definite article in town names :

to come from Toulouse

= venir de Toulouse

to come from Le Havre

= venir du Havre

to come from La Rochelle

= venir de La Rochelle

to come from Les Arcs

= venir des Arcs

Belonging to a town or city

English sometimes has specific words for people of a certain city or town, such as Londoners, New Yorkers or Parisians, but mostly we talk of the people of Leeds or the inhabitants of San Francisco. On the other hand, most towns in French-speaking countries have a corresponding adjective and noun, and a list of the best-known of these is given at the end of this note.

The noun forms, spelt with a capital letter, mean a person from X :

the inhabitants of Bordeaux

= les Bordelais mpl

the people of Strasbourg

= les Strasbourgeois mpl

The adjective forms, spelt with a small letter, are often used where in English the town name is used as an adjective :

Paris shops

= les magasins parisiens

However, some of these French words are fairly rare, and it is always safe to say les habitants de X, or, for the adjective, simply de X. Here are examples of this, using some of the nouns that commonly combine with the names of towns :

a Bordeaux accent

= un accent de Bordeaux

Toulouse airport

= l’aéroport de Toulouse

the La Rochelle area

= la région de La Rochelle

Limoges buses

= les autobus de Limoges

the Le Havre City Council

= le conseil municipal du Havre

Lille representatives

= les représentants de Lille

Les Arcs restaurants

= les restaurants des Arcs

the Geneva road

= la route de Genève

Brussels streets

= les rues de Bruxelles

the Angers team

= l’équipe d’Angers

the Avignon train

= le train d’Avignon

but note

Orleans traffic

= la circulation à Orléans

Names of cities and towns in French-speaking countries and their adjectives

Remember that when these adjectives are used as nouns, meaning a person from X or the people of X, they are spelt with capital letters.

Aix-en-Provence = aixois(e)

Alger = algérois(e)

Angers = angevin(e)

Arles = arlésien(ne)

Auxerre = auxerrois(e)

Avignon = avignonnais(e)

Bastia = bastiais(e)

Bayonne = bayonnais(e)

Belfort = belfortain(e)

Berne = bernois(e)

Besançon = bisontin(e)

Béziers = biterrois(e)

Biarritz = biarrot(e)

Bordeaux = bordelais(e)

Boulogne-sur-Mer = boulonnais(e)

Bourges = berruyer(-ère)

Brest = brestois(e)

Bruges = brugeois(e)

Bruxelles = bruxellois(e)

Calais = calaisien(ne)

Cannes = cannais(e)

Carcassonne = carcassonnais(e)

Chambéry = chambérien(ne)

Chamonix = chamoniard(e)

Clermont-Ferrand = clermontois(e)

Die = diois(e)

Dieppe = dieppois(e)

Dijon = dijonnais(e)

Dunkerque = dunkerquois(e)

Fontainebleau = bellifontain(e)

Gap = gapençais(e)

Genève = genevois(e)

Grenoble = grenoblois(e)

Havre, Le = havrais(e)

Lens = lensois(e)

Liège = liégeois(e)

Lille = lillois(e)

Lourdes = lourdais(e)

Luxembourg = luxembourgeois(e)

Lyon = lyonnais(e)

Mâcon = mâconnais(e)

Marseille = marseillais(e) or phocéen(ne)

Metz = messin(e)

Modane = modanais(e)

Montpellier = montpelliérain(e)

Montréal = montréalais(e)

Moulins = moulinois(e)

Mulhouse = mulhousien(ne)

Nancy = nancéien(ne)

Nantes = nantais(e)

Narbonne = narbonnais(e)

Nevers = nivernais(e)

Nice = niçois(e)

Nîmes = nîmois(e)

Orléans = orléanais(e)

Paris = parisien(ne)

Pau = palois(e)

Périgueux = périgourdin(e)

Perpignan = perpignanais(e)

Poitiers = poitevin(e)

Pont-à-Mousson = mussipontain(e)

Québec = québécois(e)

Reims = rémois(e)

Rennes = rennais(e)

Roanne = roannais(e)

Rouen = rouennais(e)

Saint-Étienne = stéphanois(e)

Saint-Malo = malouin(e)

Saint-Tropez = tropézien(ne)

Sancerre = sancerrois(e)

Sète = sétois(e)

Sochaux = sochalien(ne)

Strasbourg = strasbourgeois(e)

Tarascon = tarasconnais(e)

Tarbes = tarbais(e)

Toulon = toulonnais(e)

Toulouse = toulousain(e)

Tours = tourangeau(-elle)

Tunis = tunisois(e)

Valence = valentinois(e)

Valenciennes = valenciennois(e)

Versailles = versaillais(e)

Vichy = vichyssois(e)

Big English-French dictionary. 2003.