Aller (to go) in French

In Brief

Aller means “to go” and has an irregular present tense: je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont. Use it to talk about movement toward a destination and, before an infinitive (the basic form of a verb), to say what someone is going to do: Je vais partir means “I’m going to leave.”

Overview

Aller is one of the most useful verbs you meet at A1. It lets you say where you are going, ask about someone’s plans, discuss travel, and take part in everyday exchanges such as Ça va ? (“How are you?”). Although its infinitive ends in -er, it does not follow the regular pattern of verbs such as parler. Its present forms must be learned separately.

English and French use “go” and aller in many similar ways, but they do not match in every sentence. French uses aller + destination for actual movement, and aller + infinitive for the near future. By contrast, English “How are you?” uses “be,” while French commonly asks Comment allez-vous ? or Ça va ? with aller.

The forms themselves are only part of the topic. You also need to choose the word that introduces a destination: à Paris, au bureau, à la banque, en France, chez Paul. Learning these as complete phrases will make aller much easier to use naturally.

How It Works

Present tense conjugation

The subject (the person or thing performing the action) determines the form of the verb.

Subject	Form	Usual English equivalent
je	vais	I go / I’m going
tu	vas	you go / you’re going (informal singular)
il / elle / on	va	he/she goes; we/one goes
nous	allons	we go / we’re going
vous	allez	you go / you’re going (plural or formal)
ils / elles	vont	they go / they’re going

The forms come from more than one historical stem, which is why they look so different. For practical purposes, memorize them in three sound groups:

• je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va — the final written consonants are not pronounced;
• nous allons, vous allez — these retain all-;
• ils/elles vont — a separate vont form.

Before a vowel sound, normal French linking may be heard in nous allons and vous allez: the final consonant of the pronoun links to the following vowel. This is called liaison (pronouncing a normally silent final consonant before a following vowel sound).

Talking about movement

Use a conjugated form of aller followed by a destination:

subject + aller + destination

• Je vais au travail. — I go / I’m going to work.
• Nous allons à Paris. — We’re going to Paris.
• Elle va chez le médecin. — She’s going to the doctor’s office.

French has no separate present progressive form equivalent to English “am going.” The present je vais can mean either “I go” or “I’m going”; context shows whether it is a routine or an action in progress.

Choosing the destination expression

With an ordinary place, aller normally uses à (“to”). The form changes according to the article that follows.

Pattern	Result	Example
à + le	au	au cinéma — to the cinema
à + la	à la	à la gare — to the station
à + l’	à l’	à l’aéroport — to the airport
à + les	aux	aux toilettes — to the restroom

The contractions au and aux are required: do not say à le cinéma or à les toilettes.

Geographical names follow another common pattern:

Destination type	Preposition	Example
city	à	aller à Lyon
most feminine countries	en	aller en France
masculine country beginning with a consonant	au	aller au Canada
plural country	aux	aller aux États-Unis

Use chez for someone’s home, workplace, or professional premises: chez Marie, chez mes parents, chez le dentiste. English often says “to Marie’s” or “to the dentist,” so translating the preposition word for word is unreliable.

Saying how you travel

Common transport phrases include:

• à pied — on foot
• à vélo — by bike
• en voiture / en bus / en train / en avion — by car, bus, train, plane

For example: Je vais au bureau en métro (“I go to the office by metro”). These are conventional phrases, so it is best to learn the preposition together with the means of transport.

Forming the near future

The near future (futur proche) is formed with the present tense of aller plus an infinitive:

subject + aller in the present + infinitive

Subject	Pattern	Example
je	je vais + infinitive	Je vais appeler. — I’m going to call.
tu	tu vas + infinitive	Tu vas comprendre. — You’re going to understand.
il / elle / on	va + infinitive	On va commencer. — We’re going to start.
nous	nous allons + infinitive	Nous allons partir. — We’re going to leave.
vous	vous allez + infinitive	Vous allez voir. — You’re going to see.
ils / elles	vont + infinitive	Elles vont arriver. — They’re going to arrive.

Only aller changes. The second verb remains in the infinitive: je vais manger, not je vais mange or je vais manges.

The near future commonly presents something as planned, expected, or about to happen. It may refer to the next few seconds or to a more distant plan: Attention, tu vas tomber ! (“Careful, you’re going to fall!”) and Nous allons déménager l’année prochaine (“We’re going to move next year”) are both possible.

Questions and negatives

Everyday questions can use rising intonation or est-ce que:

• Tu vas où ? — Where are you going? (very common in conversation)
• Où est-ce que vous allez ? — Where are you going?
• Où vas-tu ? — Where are you going? (inversion; more formal or written)

In standard written negation, ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated form of aller:

• Je ne vais pas au bureau. — I’m not going to the office.
• Nous n’allons pas sortir. — We aren’t going to go out.

With the near future, the infinitive comes after pas: ne + aller + pas + infinitive. In informal speech, ne is often omitted: On va pas attendre. Learn the full form for writing and careful speech.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je vais au travail.	I go / I’m going to work.	The context decides between routine and current movement.
Où vas-tu ?	Where are you going?	Question by inversion.
Nous allons à Paris ce week-end.	We’re going to Paris this weekend.	A city takes à.
Elle va chez ses parents dimanche.	She’s going to her parents’ house on Sunday.	Chez refers to a person’s place.
Vous allez en Espagne en train ?	Are you going to Spain by train?	Destination plus means of transport.
Les enfants vont à l’école à pied.	The children walk to school.	Literally, they go to school on foot.
On va au restaurant ce soir.	We’re going to a restaurant tonight.	Conversational on commonly means “we.”
Je vais manger.	I’m going to eat.	Near future: aller + infinitive.
Il va pleuvoir cet après-midi.	It’s going to rain this afternoon.	Prediction with the near future.
Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire demain ?	What are you going to do tomorrow?	Only aller is conjugated.
Nous n’allons pas rester longtemps.	We aren’t going to stay long.	Pas comes before the infinitive.
Ça va ? — Oui, ça va bien.	How are you? — Fine, thanks.	Fixed everyday use of aller.
Comment allez-vous, Madame Leroy ?	How are you, Ms Leroy?	Polite or formal greeting.
Allez, on y va !	Come on, let’s go!	Common spoken encouragement.

Common Mistakes

Treating aller like a regular -ER verb

• Wrong: Je alle à Paris.
• Right: Je vais à Paris.
• Why: Despite its -er ending, aller is irregular. The present form with je is vais.

Conjugating both verbs in the near future

• Wrong: Je vais mange.
• Right: Je vais manger.
• Why: The second verb must be an infinitive (the unchanged dictionary form). Only aller agrees with the subject.

Using à le or à les

• Wrong: Nous allons à le musée.
• Right: Nous allons au musée.
• Why: À + le contracts to au, and à + les contracts to aux.

Translating “to” with à in every case

• Wrong: Elle va à France.
• Right: Elle va en France.
• Why: Cities usually take à, but most feminine countries take en. People and their premises normally take chez: chez Sophie, chez le médecin.

Putting pas after the infinitive

• Wrong: Je ne vais sortir pas.
• Right: Je ne vais pas sortir.
• Why: In the near future, ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated verb aller, not the infinitive.

Confusing movement with location

• Wrong: Je vais à la maison maintenant when you mean “I am at home now.”
• Right: Je suis à la maison maintenant.
• Why: Aller expresses going or developing, not simply being in a place. Use être for current location.

Usage Notes

Tu, vous, and on

Tu vas addresses one person informally. Vous allez addresses several people or one person formally. In everyday conversation, on va is often more natural than nous allons for “we’re going”: On va au café ? (“Shall we go to the café?”). Nous allons remains fully correct and is common in careful speech and writing.

Ça va and comment allez-vous

In Ça va ?, aller no longer describes literal travel. The expression asks how things are going. Possible answers include Ça va, Ça va bien, Très bien, and Ça ne va pas. Comment allez-vous ? expresses the same basic idea in a more formal register; Comment vas-tu ? is informal but may sound a little more deliberate than the very common Ça va ?

Present movement or future plan?

Je vais à la gare has a destination after aller and means “I’m going to the station.” Je vais attendre has an infinitive after aller and means “I’m going to wait.” This simple test often resolves the meaning. A sentence can contain both: Je vais aller à la gare means “I’m going to go to the station.” The repetition is grammatical, though speakers may choose a more direct phrasing when the context allows it.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Past and future forms

In the passé composé (a common compound past tense), aller uses être and the past participle allé. The participle normally agrees in gender and number with the subject:

• Il est allé à Lille. — He went to Lille.
• Elle est allée à Lille. — She went to Lille.
• Ils sont allés à Lille. — They went to Lille.
• Elles sont allées à Lille. — They went to Lille.

The simple future has the irregular stem ir-: j’irai, tu iras, il ira, nous irons, vous irez, ils iront. Do not confuse j’irai (“I will go”) with j’irais (“I would go”), which belongs to the conditional.

S’en aller and y aller

The pronominal expression s’en aller (a verb used with a pronoun such as me, te, or se) means “to leave” or “go away”: Je m’en vais (“I’m leaving”), Ils s’en vont (“They’re leaving”). It is not formed by simply adding en after every form of aller; the pronouns change with the subject.

The pronoun y can replace a previously mentioned place: Tu vas au marché ? — Oui, j’y vais. (“Are you going to the market? — Yes, I’m going there.”) The expression On y va ? can mean “Shall we go?”

Imperative forms

The imperative (the form used for commands and invitations) is va, allons, allez:

• Va doucement ! — Go slowly!
• Allons-y ! — Let’s go!
• Allez-y ! — Go ahead!

An extra -s appears before y in vas-y (“go ahead”), even though the ordinary singular command is va. This is a spelling and pronunciation exception worth learning as a complete expression.

Aller as change or development

In some constructions, aller describes how a situation develops rather than physical movement: Les affaires vont bien (“Business is going well”), La situation va empirer (“The situation is going to get worse”). Literary and formal French can also use aller in broader stylistic ways, but the movement, greeting, and near-future patterns cover the uses a beginner needs most.

Practice Tips

1. Learn destination chunks. Make short cards with au travail, à la gare, à l’école, chez le médecin, en France, and au Canada. Then combine each one with all six core forms of aller.
2. Build a two-column routine. In one column, write real movement sentences such as Je vais au marché. In the other, write plans such as Je vais cuisiner. This trains you to recognize destination versus infinitive.
3. Listen for the small forms. In French audio, identify va, allez, and vont, then decide whether each example means movement, a future action, or part of an expression such as ça va.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -ER Verbs — provides the basic idea of present-tense conjugation and shows why aller is exceptional.
• Next step: Near Future — develops the aller + infinitive pattern in more detail, including plans and predictions.