Further details about geographical names and their prepositions

Cities

You should not use an article with cities:

J'aime Paris

 
New York est plus grand que Los Angeles.
Dakar est la capitale du Sénégal.  

But there are a number of cities that have an article built in:

La Cour internationale de la Justice siège à La Haye.
The International Court de la Justice sits in The Hague.  

There are a limited number of these cities, but they always need an article. They are listed in the section on articles.


Countries and continents

When used without a preposition, countries and continents always take an article:

L'Asie est le plus grand continent.
Asia is the biggest continent.

La France est le plus grand pays de l'Union européenne.
France is the biggest country in the European Union.

When used with a preposition,

· feminine singular countries do not take an article.

J'habite en France.
Je viens de France.

· feminine plural countries do take an article.

J'habite aux Philippines.
Je viens des Philippines.

· feminine countries whose name begins with République do not take an article after en, but do    take an article after de.

J'habite en République tchèque (Czech Republic).
Je viens de la République tchèque.

· masculine singular countries do take an article.

J'habite au Canada.
Je viens du Canada.

· masculine plural countries do take an article.

J'habite aux États-Unis.
Je viens des États-Unis.

· masculine singular countries beginning with a vowel do not take an article after en, but do take an   article after de.

J'habite en Iran.
Je viens de l'Iran.

 

States of the Union

Masculine states are most commonly used with dans le and du.

Ma mère habite dans le Wisconsin, mais elle vient du Michigan.

Nous allons dans le Dakota du Nord pour nos vacances chaque année.

Texas, since it was once, briefly, an independent country, and is certainly big enough to be considered one, can be used with au and du, like a country.

Au Texas, les voitures sont grandes comme les camions.
In Texas, cars are as big as trucks.  

To distinguish states from cities, Washington and New York are commonly used with l'état de.

Les Chutes du Niagara sont dans l'état de New York.
Mon grand-père habite dans l'état de Washington.