dans ou a

dear rocket languages, i am really confused on when to use "dans" and "a".

"dans" means "in" as in "dans ma poche" (in my pocket) or "dans son septieme annee (in his seventh year of life), "a" without an accent means "he, she or it has". With accent "á" means "in" as in "je vais á la rue (I'm going in the street) Unfotunately you will have to get a feel for when to use "á" and when to use "dans", as the rules that appliy are not that straight forward. For example you can use "dans" when talking about a place, for example "dans Paris" (in Paris), but you can also say "arriver á Paris" (to arrive in Paris). In this case you could argue that "dans" is used when you are at a certain place and "á" shows the direction -the "where to-. But then you can also say "entrer dans la maison" (to enter the house). Here are some more examples: dans la rue (in the street) dans une semaine (in a week) dans un accident (in an accident) ce livre est á moi (this is my book) cuisine á la francaise (the French cuisine)