In this French grammar lesson we will learn about aller conjugation in the present tense.
Aller which means “to go” is an irregular verb, and one of the most important verbs in the French language. Therefore it warrants its own lesson.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- how aller is conjugated in French,
- how aller is used in French,
- how aller is pronounced in French,
- how aller is used in sentences in French,
- how aller conjugation Anki files can be downloaded.
Please refer to the French A1 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar if you are curious about how aller fits in French A1 grammar.
By the end of the lesson you will know all about aller conjugation in the present tense!
Table of Contents
Aller Conjugation in the Present Tense
| je | vais |
| tu | vas |
| il/elle/on | va |
| nous | allons |
| vous | allez |
| ils/elles | vont |
Usage of Aller
This section on aller conjugation will show you how aller is used in French as well as the rules for contractions.
The verb aller means “to go”.
Aller is used to indicate that one is going somewhere.
Je vais à l’université
I am going to university
You may notice that after the “vais” there is the letter “à“. This means “to”. When we want to say that we are going somewhere we must use the conjugated form of aller in combination with “à“.
However, this “à” may change its form depending on which article comes after it.
There are three important rules to take into account when you want to use aller
- If the article after “à” is la then nothing changes.
la plage
the beach
Je vais à la plage
I am going to the beach
As you can see plage is feminine so it uses the article la.
à + la = à la
- If the article after “à” is le then this transforms into au.
le cinéma
the cinema
Je vais au cinéma ce soir
I am going to the cinema this evening
The noun cinéma is masucline in French so it takes the article le. As the article after “à” is le it transforms into au.
à + le = au
- If the article after “à” is les then this transforms into aux.
les toilettes
the toilet
Je vais aux toilettes
I’m going to the bathroom
The noun toilettes is plural here so it takes the articles les. When “à” is followed by les in transforms into aux.
à + les = aux
Here are again the contractions to have a better overview:
à + la = à la
à + le = au
à + les = aux
Please consult the lesson on definite articles for more explanation on le and la.
Pronunciation of Aller Conjugations
In this section on aller conjugation in the present tense we will focus on pronunciation.
There are 2 important rules to take into account when we want to pronounce an aller conjugation in the present tense.
- In the tu and il/elle/on form the conjugations of aller have the same pronounciation.
Tu vas
Il va
These VERBS are pronounced in the same exact way.
- Rather than pause in between certain words, we pronounce them in one go thereby changing the “s” sound to a “z” sound. This is called a liason and applies in the following expressions:
Nous allons
Vous allez
Here we can see that for “nous allons” and “vous allez” the last “s” will be turned into a “z” when we pronounce it.
Example Sentences with Aller Conjugations
The final section of this lesson on aller conjugation in the present tense is about seeing être in action.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding of aller conjugation in the present tense through examples.
Je vais à l’école.
I am going to school.
Je vais à la plage.
I am going to the beach.
Je vais à l’université.
I am going to the university.
Je vais au cinéma ce soir.
I am going to the cinema this evening.
Je vais aux toilettes.
I am going to the bathroom.
Où vas-tu ?
Where are you going?
On y va!
Let’s go!
Nous allons au zoo.
We are going to the zoo.
Vous allez maintenant ?
You are going now?
Ils vont au cinéma.
They are going to the cinema.
Anki File for Aller Conjugation in the Present Tense
It is important to do the Anki excercises for this lesson, so that you can better remember what you just studied.
By downloading the Anki File for French A1, you can practice every French A1 lesson that is on Language Atlas.
You can also choose to just get the Anki File for French A1 Verbs. This only has the verbs for French A1.
If you don’t know why you should use Anki, or if you don’t know what Anki is, then please click here.
Anki can be downloaded from here.
