French Verb Aller: Essential Guide to Aller in French

What is aller?

Aller means "to go" in French and is a vital verb for expressing movement, future plans, and health conditions. It's one of the most used verbs in everyday French conversation.

Present Tense (Présent)

je vais - I go/am going tu vas - you go/are going (informal) il/elle/on va - he/she/one goes/is going nous allons - we go/are going vous allez - you go/are going (formal/plural) ils/elles vont - they go/are going

Example Sentences:

1. "Je vais au marché" (I am going to the market)

• Uses "vais" because "je" (I) is expressing current movement

2. "Ils vont à l'école" (They are going to school)

• Uses "vont" because "ils" (they) indicates multiple people moving

3. "Tu vas bien?" (Are you doing well?)

• Uses "vas" in this common expression to ask about someone's wellbeing

Past Tense (Passé Composé)

je suis allé(e) - I went/have gone tu es allé(e) - you went/have gone il/elle/on est allé(e) - he/she/one went/has gone nous sommes allés(es) - we went/have gone vous êtes allé(s/es) - you went/have gone ils/elles sont allés(es) - they went/have gone

Example Sentences:

1. "Je suis allée à Paris" (I went to Paris)

• Uses "suis allée" (feminine) for completed movement in the past

2. "Nous sommes allés au restaurant" (We went to the restaurant)

• Uses "sommes allés" (masculine plural) for group movement

Imperfect Past (Imparfait)

j'allais - I was going/used to go tu allais - you were going/used to go il/elle/on allait - he/she/one was going/used to go nous allions - we were going/used to go vous alliez - you were going/used to go ils/elles allaient - they were going/used to go

Example Sentences:

1. "J'allais souvent au parc" (I used to go to the park often)

• Uses "allais" for describing a habitual action in the past

2. "Ils allaient à la plage chaque été" (They would go to the beach every summer)

• Uses "allaient" to express repeated movement in the past

Future Simple (Futur Simple)

j'irai - I will go tu iras - you will go il/elle/on ira - he/she/one will go nous irons - we will go vous irez - you will go ils/elles iront - they will go

Example Sentences:

1. "J'irai te voir demain" (I will go see you tomorrow)

• Uses "irai" to indicate future movement

2. "Nous irons en France l'année prochaine" (We will go to France next year)

• Uses "irons" to express planned future travel

Common Uses of Aller

1. Expressing movement: "Je vais à la bibliothèque" (I'm going to the library)

2. Asking about health: "Comment allez-vous?" (How are you?)

3. Forming near future (futur proche): "Je vais manger" (I am going to eat)

4. Describing how things are going: "Tout va bien" (Everything is going well)

Key Tips

• Aller uses être in compound past tenses
• The past participle (allé) must agree with the subject in gender and number
• In the future tense, aller has a completely different stem (ir-)
• Aller is essential for forming the near future tense (aller + infinitive)

Remember to pay attention to prepositions that follow aller:

• à + city/location
• en + feminine countries/regions
• au + masculine countries/regions