I am going to..

Question

In the kwiz the first question was "Complete the sentence with the correct definite article: Je vais visiter ________ France cet été." I didn't choose any article because in another lesson it was mentioned that when talking about going to or from a country, you won't use the definite article. Then why it was marked as a wrong answer? Thank you for your answer!

Accepted Answer

Hi Nina, 
With the verb "visiter" you always use the article, so you will have , for exemple,
Je vais visiter la France, la Russie et la Pologne ensuite je visiterai le Vietnam et le Japon.
I am going to visit France, Russia and Poland and then I will visit Vietnam and Japan.
But,  
je vais aller en France, en Russie et en Pologne et ensuite j'irai au Vietnam et au Japon.
I am going to go to France, to Russia and Poland but then I'll go to Vietnam and Japan.
 
Hope this helps!

Answer

Je vais en France. -- I am going to France.
Je viens de France. -- I am coming from France.
Je visite la France. -- I visit France.

There is always either a preposition or the definite article in front of a country name. S if the verb doesn't require a proposition you use the definite article.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Answer

Thank you Chris for your explanation!