Giving and Asking for Directions

Basic Directional Terms

French	English
à droite	to/on the right
à gauche	to/on the left
tout droit	straight ahead
au coin	at the corner
en face de	opposite
derrière	behind
devant	in front of
près de	near
loin de	far from
entre	between
à côté de	next to
à travers	through
sur	on
sous	under

Places and Landmarks

French	English
la rue	street
le carrefour	crossroads
le pont	bridge
la place	square
le feu de signalisation	traffic light
le rond-point	roundabout
la rivière	river
la gare	station
l'hôtel de ville	town hall
le musée	museum
l'église	church
la pharmacie	pharmacy
le supermarché	supermarket
le parc	park
la bibliothèque	library

Useful Phrases for Asking Directions

French	English
Où est/ Où se trouve... ?	Where is...?
Où sont...?	Where are...?
Comment est-ce que je vais à/au/à la/aux...?	How do I get to...?
C'est loin d'ici ?	Is it far from here?
C'est près ?	Is it near?
Quelle est la meilleure façon d'y aller ?	What's the best way to get there?
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer le chemin pour... ?	Can you show me the way to...?

infoNote

Grammar Point: Prepositions Prepositions are key when giving directions. These words help indicate the position of places relative to other places.

à (at) – à droite, à gauche
de (from) – loin de, près de
en face de (opposite), devant (in front of), derrière (behind)
sur (on), sous (under), entre (between)

Useful Phrases for Giving Directions

French	English
Tournez à gauche/droite.	Turn left/right.
Allez tout droit.	Go straight ahead.
Prenez la première/deuxième rue à gauche/droite.	Take the first/second street on the left/right.
Traversez la rue/le pont/la place.	Cross the street/bridge/square.
Continuez tout droit jusqu'au bout de la rue.	Continue straight to the end of the street.
Au carrefour, tournez à droite.	At the crossroads, turn right.
Descendez la rue.	Go down the street.
Montez la rue.	Go up the street.
C'est sur votre gauche/droite.	It's on your left/right.

infoNote

Grammar Point: L'impératif When giving directions, the imperative mood is used to tell someone what to do. In French, the imperative form is used for tu (you, informal), nous (we), and vous (you, formal/plural).

Examples:

Tourne à droite (Turn right - informal)
Tournez à gauche (Turn left - formal/plural)
Allons tout droit (Let's go straight ahead) Remember:
For er verbs, drop the final s in the tu form: Tu tournes -> Tourne!
In the nous and vous forms, the verb remains the same as in the present tense. Check out our full notes on the imperative for more details!

Giving and Asking for Directions Simplified Revision Notes for Junior Cycle French

Giving and Asking for Directions

Basic Directional Terms

Places and Landmarks

Useful Phrases for Asking Directions

Useful Phrases for Giving Directions

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