LinguaAller: the verb for going anywhere
You already use aller without knowing it: ça va ?, tu vas bien ?, comment allez-vous ? are all the verb aller (to go). It ends in -er, but it is the one -er verb that refuses the pattern of parler: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Three forms sound almost the same – vais is “vè”, vas and va are “va” – and the plural changes stem completely: allons, allez with the liaison “nou-zalon, vou-zalé”, and vont, “von”. Learn it as six separate words: no stem, no rule, just the sounds.
| Pronoun | Form of aller | What you hear | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | vais | “vè” | I go, I am going |
| tu | vas | “va” | you go (tu) |
| il / elle | va | “va” – same as vas | he / she goes |
| nous | allons | “alon” – liaison “nou-zalon” | we go |
| vous | allez | “alé” – liaison “vou-zalé” | you go (vous) |
| ils / elles | vont | “von” – the t is silent | they go |
Je vais à Nice et mes parents vont à Marseille.I am going to Nice and my parents are going to Marseille.
Au, à la, à l’, aux: when à meets the article
To say where you go, aller takes à (to, at): je vais à Nice. Before a noun with its article, à and the article either fuse or stay apart, and the article decides. À + le must become au: je vais au marché – “à le marché” does not exist in French. À + les must become aux: aux toilettes; before a vowel the x is heard as “z”, aux États-Unis. À la and à l’ simply stay as they are: à la banque, à l’hôtel, à l’école. So the form depends on one thing only: the article of the noun. Learn every place with its article and the contraction chooses itself.
| Article | After à | Example |
|---|---|---|
| le | au | au marché |
| la | à la | à la banque |
| l’ | à l’ | à l’hôtel |
| les | aux | aux toilettes |
Tu vas au marché ou à la banque ?Are you going to the market or to the bank?
Au bureau, à la gare, à l’aéroport: the places of the city
The city is full of masculine and feminine nouns, and the contraction shows the gender at once. Masculine: le marché, le cinéma, le restaurant, le bureau (the office) – all au. Feminine: la banque, la gare (the railway station) – à la. Vowel or silent h: l’hôtel, l’aéroport, l’école – à l’, whatever the gender. And one plural: les toilettes – French toilets are always plural, so it is aux toilettes, never “à la toilette”. One trap: à l’hôtel and à l’école hide the gender, so remember un hôtel (masculine) and une école (feminine) separately – it matters the day you say un grand hôtel or une grande école.
| Place | Gender | With aller |
|---|---|---|
| le cinéma | masculine | je vais au cinéma |
| le restaurant | masculine | tu vas au restaurant |
| le bureau | masculine | il va au bureau |
| la gare | feminine | nous allons à la gare |
| l’aéroport | masculine, vowel | vous allez à l’aéroport |
| l’école | feminine, vowel | elles vont à l’école |
Le matin, je vais au bureau et les enfants vont à l’école.In the morning I go to the office and the children go to school.
Je vais manger: aller + infinitive, a first look at the future
Put an infinitive after aller and you are no longer going anywhere: you are about to do something. Je vais manger = I am going to eat; nous allons regarder un film = we are going to watch a film; elle va travailler demain = she is going to work tomorrow. This is the near future (le futur proche), and it is how French speakers talk about their plans most of the time. The recipe is exactly the English one: aller conjugated + the verb as it stands in the dictionary. Both readings can live in one sentence: je vais au restaurant (I go there) and je vais manger au restaurant (I am going to eat there). You will study this tense fully later; for now, recognise it and use it with the verbs you know.
Ce soir, nous allons regarder un film avec Zoé.Tonight we are going to watch a film with Zoé.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aller | to go | Vous allez au marché le samedi ? Do you go to the market on Saturdays? |
| au | to the, at the (à + le) | Paul va au restaurant à midi. Paul goes to the restaurant at noon. |
| à la | to the, at the (before a feminine noun) | Elle est à la banque avec sa mère. She is at the bank with her mother. |
| à l’ | to the, at the (before a vowel or silent h) | Mon frère est à l’hôtel avec un ami. My brother is at the hotel with a friend. |
| aux | to the, at the (à + les, plural) | Je vais aux toilettes, deux minutes ! I am going to the toilet, two minutes! |
| le marché | the market | Le marché est ouvert le dimanche matin. The market is open on Sunday mornings. |
| la banque | the bank | La banque est fermée à midi. The bank is closed at noon. |
| l’hôtel | the hotel | Nous avons un petit hôtel à Nice. We have a small hotel in Nice. |
| le cinéma | the cinema, films | Tu vas au cinéma avec Zoé ? Are you going to the cinema with Zoé? |
| le restaurant | the restaurant | Le restaurant de mon oncle est très bon. My uncle’s restaurant is very good. |
| la gare | the railway station | Ma sœur travaille à la gare. My sister works at the station. |
| l’aéroport | the airport | Nous allons à l’aéroport à cinq heures. We are going to the airport at five o’clock. |
| les toilettes | the toilet, the restroom (always plural) | Pardon, où sont les toilettes ? Excuse me, where is the toilet? |
| le bureau | the office | Mon père va au bureau à sept heures. My father goes to the office at seven. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which form of aller goes with nous?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.