Near Future in French

In Brief

The French near future (futur proche) uses the present tense of aller (“to go”) followed by an infinitive (the basic dictionary form of a verb): Je vais partir means “I’m going to leave.” Conjugate aller for the subject, but leave the second verb unchanged. Use this form especially for intentions, plans, and events presented as connected to the present.

Overview

The futur proche is one of the most practical A2 structures in French. It lets you talk about an upcoming meal, tomorrow’s plans, or an obvious prediction with one reusable pattern: aller + infinitive. Once you know the present tense of aller, you do not need to learn new endings for every main verb.

English has a close equivalent in “be going to”: Nous allons déménager means “We’re going to move.” This similarity is helpful, but the two languages build the expression differently. English changes be—“I am,” “she is,” “they are”—whereas French changes aller: je vais, elle va, ils vont. French does not insert a word equivalent to English “to” before the infinitive.

Despite its name, the futur proche is not restricted to the next few minutes. It often expresses a future that the speaker sees as already planned, expected, or linked to the current situation. That future can be tonight, next month, or even years away. French also has the simple future (futur simple), such as je partirai. You will normally study that at B1; the distinction is discussed later in this article.

How It Works

The basic pattern

Use:

subject + present tense of aller + infinitive

The subject is the person or thing carrying out the action. The infinitive is the unchanged form listed in a dictionary, such as manger (“to eat”), finir (“to finish”), prendre (“to take”), or être (“to be”). Only aller agrees with the subject.

Subject	Present form of aller	Infinitive	Complete example
je	vais	travailler	Je vais travailler.
tu	vas	sortir	Tu vas sortir.
il / elle / on	va	dormir	On va dormir.
nous	allons	commencer	Nous allons commencer.
vous	allez	comprendre	Vous allez comprendre.
ils / elles	vont	revenir	Elles vont revenir.

Learn the six forms of aller as a unit: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont. The main verb never takes a present-tense ending in this construction.

• Je vais mange is not possible; use Je vais manger.
• Ils vont arrivent is not possible; use Ils vont arriver.
• Irregular infinitives remain ordinary infinitives: Elle va faire ça and Nous allons avoir besoin d’aide.

Statements and questions

An ordinary statement keeps the familiar order:

Tu vas préparer le dîner. — “You’re going to make dinner.”

In conversation, the easiest questions use rising intonation or est-ce que:

• Tu vas préparer le dîner ? — “Are you going to make dinner?”
• Est-ce que tu vas préparer le dîner ? — “Are you going to make dinner?”
• Qu’est-ce que tu vas préparer ? — “What are you going to make?”
• Quand est-ce qu’ils vont arriver ? — “When are they going to arrive?”

Formal written French can use inversion (placing the verb before the subject pronoun): Allez-vous rester ? In everyday conversation, Vous allez rester ? and Est-ce que vous allez rester ? are generally more natural. With il, elle, or on, written inversion may add -t- purely to make pronunciation smoother: Va-t-il pleuvoir ?

Negation

In standard French, place ne ... pas around the conjugated form of aller. Do not place it around the infinitive.

subject + ne/n’ + aller + pas + infinitive

French	English	Note
Je ne vais pas sortir.	I’m not going to go out.	ne ... pas surrounds vais.
Elle ne va pas répondre.	She isn’t going to answer.	répondre stays in the infinitive.
Nous n’allons pas attendre.	We aren’t going to wait.	ne becomes n’ before a vowel sound.

Other negative expressions follow the same principle:

• Il ne va jamais accepter. — “He is never going to agree.”
• On ne va plus utiliser cette salle. — “We’re not going to use this room anymore.”
• Je ne vais rien acheter. — “I’m not going to buy anything.”

In informal speech, French speakers often omit ne: Je vais pas sortir. As a learner, keep the complete ne ... pas pattern in careful speech and writing, while learning to recognize the shorter spoken form.

Object and reflexive pronouns

An object pronoun is a short word such as le (“it/him”), la (“it/her”), or lui (“to him/her”) that replaces a person or thing affected by the action. In the futur proche, a pronoun belonging to the infinitive normally goes directly before that infinitive:

• Je vais le faire. — “I’m going to do it.”
• Nous allons lui parler. — “We’re going to speak to him/her.”
• Elle va les inviter. — “She’s going to invite them.”

A reflexive pronoun shows that the action comes back to the subject, as in “wash oneself.” It also sits before the infinitive and changes to match the subject:

• Je vais me coucher. — “I’m going to go to bed.”
• Tu vas te préparer. — “You’re going to get ready.”
• Nous allons nous retrouver devant la gare. — “We’re going to meet outside the station.”

This placement differs from English, where words such as “it” usually come after the verb. Memorize the French group as a unit: vais le faire, va lui écrire, allons nous lever.

Using aller as both verbs

French can use aller as the conjugated helper and again as the main infinitive:

Je vais aller au marché. — “I’m going to go to the market.”

The repetition is grammatical and common. In suitable contexts, the present tense alone may sound lighter—Je vais au marché (“I’m going/I go to the market”)—but it does not always carry the same explicit future intention.

Examples in Context

The following examples move from immediate actions to plans and predictions. Notice that the time expression can be very near (tout de suite) or much later (l’année prochaine).

French	English	Note
Je vais manger.	I’m going to eat.	Immediate intention
Attention, tu vas tomber !	Watch out, you’re going to fall!	Prediction from what is happening now
Il va pleuvoir cet après-midi.	It’s going to rain this afternoon.	Expected event
On va prendre un café après le cours.	We’re going to have a coffee after class.	Casual plan; on means “we”
Nous allons partir demain matin.	We’re going to leave tomorrow morning.	Planned departure
Vous allez recevoir un message de confirmation.	You’re going to receive a confirmation message.	Polite or plural vous
Elles vont louer un appartement ensemble.	They’re going to rent an apartment together.	Plural feminine subject
Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end ?	What are you going to do this weekend?	Information question
Est-ce que vous allez rester longtemps ?	Are you going to stay long?	Neutral yes/no question
Je ne vais pas conduire ce soir.	I’m not going to drive tonight.	Negative intention
Il va nous appeler en arrivant.	He’s going to call us when he arrives.	nous belongs to appeler
Nous allons nous marier l’année prochaine.	We’re going to get married next year.	Reflexive verb
Je vais aller chercher les enfants à cinq heures.	I’m going to pick up the children at five.	aller appears twice
Un jour, les humains vont peut-être vivre sur Mars.	One day, humans may live on Mars.	Distant future presented as a developing possibility

Common Mistakes

Conjugating the main verb

• Wrong: Elle va travaille demain.
• Right: Elle va travailler demain.
• Why: After the conjugated form of aller, use the infinitive travailler. Only aller changes for the subject.

Using the wrong form of aller

• Wrong: Ils va arriver à huit heures.
• Right: Ils vont arriver à huit heures.
• Why: The plural subject ils requires vont. Review all six present forms rather than treating va as an unchanging future marker.

Adding à before the infinitive

• Wrong: Nous allons à visiter le musée.
• Right: Nous allons visiter le musée.
• Why: The future pattern is directly aller + infinitive. English “going to visit” does not require French à. Compare the literal movement sentence Nous allons au musée, where au musée is a destination, not another verb.

Putting pas next to the main verb

• Wrong: Je vais ne pas sortir.
• Right: Je ne vais pas sortir.
• Why: For the basic negative near future, ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated verb vais.

Misplacing an object pronoun

• Wrong: Je le vais acheter.
• Right: Je vais l’acheter.
• Why: Here le replaces the thing being bought, so it belongs with acheter and comes immediately before it. It becomes l’ before a vowel sound.

Assuming futur proche must mean “very soon”

• Misleading rule: “Use it only for something happening in a few minutes.”
• Better: Nous allons changer de système l’année prochaine.
• Why: The construction often signals present relevance, intention, or confidence—not a fixed distance on the calendar.

Usage Notes

On and nous

Both on va and nous allons can mean “we’re going to.” In everyday spoken French, on va is extremely common: On va rentrer ? (“Shall we go home?/Are we going to head home?”). Nous allons remains fully correct and is frequent in careful, formal, or written language. Even when on means “we,” it takes the singular verb va, never allons.

Plans, intentions, and evidence

The futur proche works particularly well when the future grows out of the present:

• a decision or intention: Je vais apprendre à conduire.
• an arrangement: On va dîner chez Léa samedi.
• visible evidence: Regarde ces nuages : il va pleuvoir.
• a warning about an imminent result: Tu vas casser le verre !

English speakers can often begin with the “going to” equivalent, but translation is not automatic. Depending on context, English may use the present continuous (“We’re leaving tomorrow”) or “will,” while French still naturally uses aller + infinitive.

Commands and conversation

The construction can sound like more than a neutral prediction. With tu or vous, tone and context may turn it into a firm instruction:

Tu vas ranger ta chambre maintenant. — “You’re going to tidy your room now.”

A question with on va can also make a suggestion: On va manger ? can mean “Shall we eat?” These meanings come from the situation and tone, not from a different grammatical pattern.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these distinctions at A2, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Futur proche and futur simple

Both forms can refer to future events, and real usage overlaps. The contrast is often one of viewpoint rather than clock time.

French	English	Typical viewpoint
Je vais appeler Marie.	I’m going to call Marie.	Intention already connected to the present
J’appellerai Marie demain.	I’ll call Marie tomorrow.	Future fact, promise, or more neutral future statement
Ça va être difficile.	It’s going to be difficult.	Present assessment of what is coming
Ce sera difficile.	It will be difficult.	More detached or formal-sounding prediction

This is a tendency, not an absolute rule. Spoken French often favors the futur proche, including for events that are not especially close. The futur simple is common in writing and also in speech for promises, formal forecasts, or a future presented more neutrally. Do not choose solely by counting how many days away the event is.

A future viewed from the past

French can put aller in the imperfect (a past form often used for an ongoing situation) plus an infinitive to describe something that was about to happen or was planned from a past viewpoint:

• J’allais sortir quand le téléphone a sonné. — “I was about to go out when the phone rang.”
• Nous allions partir le lendemain. — “We were going to leave the next day.”

This pattern can imply that the action was interrupted or never happened, but context decides. It is often called the near future in the past or the immediate future in the past.

Negating the infinitive itself

The beginner pattern Je ne vais pas venir normally means “I’m not going to come.” At a more advanced level, you may see ne pas placed before an infinitive when the negation specifically belongs to that infinitive, especially in more complex sentences: Il promet de ne pas oublier (“He promises not to forget”). Do not let that separate infinitive rule disrupt the basic futur proche pattern.

Practice Tips

1. Build six-person chains. Choose one useful infinitive and say the complete series aloud: je vais partir, tu vas partir, elle va partir, nous allons partir, vous allez partir, ils vont partir. Change the infinitive only after the forms of aller are automatic.
2. Plan a real day in French. Write five true sentences about tonight or tomorrow, including one negative and one reflexive verb: Je vais faire les courses. Je ne vais pas cuisiner. Je vais me coucher tôt. Real intentions make the pattern easier to remember.
3. Transform, do not just reread. Turn a statement into a question and a negative: Tu vas venir → Est-ce que tu vas venir ? → Tu ne vas pas venir. Then replace a noun with a pronoun: Je vais acheter le livre → Je vais l’acheter.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Aller (to go) — learn the present forms vais, vas, va, allons, allez, and vont before building the near future.
• Next step: Simple Future — compare je vais partir with je partirai and learn the dedicated future endings.