French Phrases: US states and place names in French

The follow list shows how to say which US state you come from, or how to say that a particular city is in a given state. A few major US cities are included in rare cases where they have a special French name or pronunciation, or to contrast the use of the article with state names with the absence of article in the city name.

j'habite...	ʒabit	I live...
la ville de X se trouve...	la vildəiks sətʁuv	the city of X is...
dans l'Alaska	dɑ̃ lalaska	in Alaska
dans l'Arizona	dɑ̃ laʁizona	in Arizona
à Boston	a bɔstõ	in Boston
en Californie	ɑ̃ kalifɔʁni	in California
en Caroline du Nord	ɑ̃ kaʁɔlindynɔʁ	in North Carolina
en Caroline du Sud	ɑ̃ kaʁɔlindysyd	in South Carolina
au Colorado	o koloʁado	in Colorado
au Connecticut	o kɔnɛktikœt	in Connecticut
au Dakota du nord	o dakotadynoʁ	in North Dakota
au Dakota du sud	o dakotadysyd	in South Dakota
au Delaware	o dəlawɛʁ	in Delaware
en Floride	ɑ̃ flɔʁid	in Florida
en Géorgie	ɑ̃ ʒeɔʁʒi	in Georgia
en Hawaï	ɑ̃ nawaj	in Hawaii
dans l'Illinois	dɑ̃ lilinwa	in Illinois
dans l'Indiana	dɑ̃ læ̃djana	in Indiana
dans l'Iowa	dɑ̃ lajowa	in Iowa
en Louisiane	ɑ̃ lwizjan	in Louisiana
dans le Maryland	dɑ̃l maʁilɑ̃d	in Maryland
au Massachussets	o masaʃysɛts	in Massachussets
au Michigan	o miʃigɑ̃	in Michigan
au Minnesota	o minesota	in Minnesota
au Mississippi	o misisipi	in Mississippi
au Missouri	o misuʁi	in Missouri
au Nevada	o nevada	in Nevada
dans le New Jersey	dɑ̃ lə njudʒɛʁze	in New Jersey
à New York	a njujɔʁk	in (the city of) New York
dans l'État de New York	dɑ̃ letad njujɔʁk	in (the state of) New York
au Nouveau-Mexique	o nuvomɛksik	in New Mexico
dans l'Ohio	dɑ̃ lojo	in Ohio
en Pennsylvanie	ɑ̃ pɛnsilvani	in Pennsylvania
à Philadelphie	a filadɛlfi	in Philadelphia
dans le Rhode Island	dɑ̃l ʁɔdajlɑ̃d	in Rhode Island
au Texas	o tɛksas	in Texas
dans l'Utah	dɑ̃ lyta	in Utah
en Virginie	ɑ̃ viʁʒini	in Virginia
en Virginie de l'ouest	ɑ̃ viʁʒinidəlwɛst	in West Virginia
au Washington	o wɔʃiŋtɔn	in Washington (state)
à Washington	a wɔʃiŋtɔn	in Washington (DC)
au Wisconsin	o wiskɔnsin	in Wisconsin

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As a rule of thumb, state names ending in -ia have French names ending in -ie and are feminine; other states generally do not have a special French name and are masculine. Note the use of articles, which is largely similar to the use with country names: en is used with feminine state names, au with masculine state names, and dans l' with masculine state names beginning with a vowel.

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