French grammar - Provenance (from) - the preposition de

Provenance (from) - the preposition de

Another use of the preposition de is to mean 'from'.

When de is followed by a definite article we have the contractions:

• de + le ⇒ du

• de + les ⇒ des

But de la and de l' are unchanged.

This topic's examples also introduce the verb revenir ('to return') which conjugates in exactly the same way as venir.

Examples:
	Je viens de Paris. I come from Paris.
	Il vient du Royaume_Uni. He comes from the UK.
	Elle vient des États_Unis. She comes from the United States.
	Qui vient des Pays_Bas ? Who is from the Netherlands?
	Pourquoi viens-tu ? Why are you (familiar) coming?
	Je reviens de la bibliothèque. I'm back from the library. revenir means 'to return' revenir conjugates in exactly the same way as venir.
	Tante Margot revient de l'hôpital aujourd'hui. Aunt Margot is coming back from the hospital today.
	Nous revenons bientôt. We're coming back soon.
	Les soldats reviennent de la guerre. The soldiers return from the war.
	Sacha et Julia ne reviennent pas. Sasha and Julia do not return.
	Pourquoi revient-elle si tard ? Why does she come back so late? tard means 'late'
	D'où venez-vous ? Where do you (formal) come from? Note the contraction de + où ⇒ d'où
	Il est de retour du travail. He's back from work. etre de retour means 'to be back'