Aller – to go

Aller - French verb to go
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Go to French Verb

Aller is one of the most common and useful French verbs and has irregular conjugations in most tenses and moods. Aller literally means "to go" and is required to create the near future.

Aller = to go

Generally speaking, aller is equivalent to "to go."

Par exemple…

Où vas-tu ?   Where are you going?
Je vais à l’école.   I’m going to school.
Il veut y aller avec toi.   He wants to go with you.
Nous sommes allés en Grèce.   We went to Greece.

 In English, "I’m going" can be a complete sentence, letting the person you’re talking to know that you’re either heading somewhere that you were just talking about or leaving your current location. But French is different: if  you just say Je vais, you’ll leave your friend wondering where exactly you’re going. So you must do one of the following:

Je vais au Mali.   I’m going to Mali.
J’y vais.   I’m going (there).
Je m’en vais.   I’m going, I’m off.

Aller = to be going to

Aller plus an infinitive creates the near future.

Je vais partir.   I’m going to leave.
Nous allions manger.   We were going to eat.

 As above, you can’t say Je vais. to mean "I’m going to." You have to follow it with an infinitive, such as je vais le faire.

Aller in action

 Related lessons

French antonym Antonym: venir  (to come)
 

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Aller - to go

Any Questions?

 Get help on the forum.
  
 

More Lawless French

 Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter.		        

Support Lawless French

  This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.

If you love it, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation.

Your support is entirely optional but tremendously appreciated.

3 Responses

  1. Marina Postnikova 7 June 2020 / 16:56

    I think there is a mistype in the phrase “Nous allions manger” => Nous allons manger

  2. Deepika Munisamy 27 May 2017 / 4:07

    wonderful page keep up your good work