Chez - Preposition | French Grammar

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCELast updated: 2023-01-2640 questionsReport a problem

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Chez = at someone's place (French Prepositions)Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCELast updated: 2023-01-2640 questions

In French, the preposition "chez" is used to express "at/to someone's place/etc" but not only.

How to use chez in French

"Chez" = at or to [someone]'s place/shop/house

Nous allons chez Marc.We're going to Marc's house.

On se retrouvera chez ma mère.We'll meet at my mother's place.

Il y a une piscine magnifique chez eux.There's a beautiful swimming pool at their house.

Je suis chez le coiffeur.I'm at the hairdresser's.

J'aime bien le réceptionniste chez ma dentiste.I like the receptionist at my dentist's.

Most of the time, chez means at or to [someone]'s place/shop/house.It can be followed with:

- a name / person (Marc, ma mère...)

- a stress pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles)-> Note that you don't use a possessive like in English.

- a professional's name (le coiffeur, ma dentiste...) to refer to their business place.-> Note that it's the name of the professional you use, not the business itself:

You say chez le boulanger but à la boulangerie.

"Chez" = at home or in [someone]'s life/personality

Ils sont chez eux.They're home.

Tout va bien chez vous?Is everything good with you?

Faites comme chez vous Make yourself at home

Chez can also be used in a more general sense to express at home or in [someone]'s life.

ATTENTION: 

Case of "à la maison" vs "chez moi"

When used in this context, maison is closer to home than literally house: and just as in English, you would never say I'm going to my home, but I'm going home. Thus, in French, you will never use à ma maison / à ta maison..., but you will use instead the generic à la maison.Here, you can also use chez moi (at/to my place) as well as à la maison (at home/home):

Je rentre chez moi.I'm going back home.

Je rentre à la maison.I'm going back home.

When talking about someone else's home, once again you cannot use à ta maison, à sa maison in French: therefore, the only solution is to use chez :

Il vient chez toi plus tard.He's coming to your place later.

Je suis passé par chez elle ce matin.I passed by her place this morning.

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

• Préposition
• Pronom disjonctif

Examples and resources

On se retrouvera chez ma mère.We'll meet at my mother's place.Nous allons chez Marc.We're going to Marc's house.Il y a une piscine magnifique chez eux.There's a beautiful swimming pool at their house.J'aime bien le réceptionniste chez ma dentiste.I like the receptionist at my dentist's.Je suis chez le coiffeur.I'm at the hairdresser's.