I saw that “au” comes before “Portugal”. But, “au” means “the”, doesn't it? Should then “the” come before “Portugal”?
Also, when do we use “aux”?
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Sign up to join this communityI saw that “au” comes before “Portugal”. But, “au” means “the”, doesn't it? Should then “the” come before “Portugal”?
Also, when do we use “aux”?
“Au” does not mean “the”*. “Le” (or “la”, or “l’”, or “les”) means “the”. “Au” is the contraction of *“à le” (*“à le” is grammatically incorrect). Similarly, “aux” is the contraction of *“à les”.
In French, the name of a country is indeed preceded by an article. We say “la France, le Portugal, l’Allemagne, les Pays-Bas”. Thus, whenever “le Portugal” is preceded by “à” (which has various meanings), it becomes “au Portugal”; similarly, when “les Pays-Bas” is preceded by “à”, it becomes “aux Pays-Bas”.
Note, however, that when countries which are feminine1 and singular are preceded by “à”, it becomes “en”: “en France, en Allemagne”. This only occurs with names of countries or regions.