où/u/
adverb · A1
adverb
Meanings
interrogative or relative adverb indicating place, meaning "where"
Used in interrogative sentences or to introduce relative clauses indicating place
indicating time, meaning "at that time; when"
Used as an adverb or conjunction indicating time
indicating direction, meaning "whither, to where"
Used to indicate the direction of an action
Examples
Où as-tu rangé les clés de la voiture ?
Where did you put the car keys?
C'était l'époque où nous prenions le train chaque matin.
That was the time when we took the train every morning.
Où allons-nous après la réunion ?
Where are we going after the meeting?
Collocations
- là oùwhere
- vers oùwhere to; in which direction
Common mistakes
Je sais où est la bibliothèque.
Je sais où se trouve la bibliothèque.
‘où’ should be followed by an infinitive or reflexive structure; using ‘est’ is unnatural.
Je me souviens où j'étais.
Je me souviens du moment où j'étais là.
When ‘où’ indicates time, it should clearly specify the time point; using it alone may cause ambiguity.