top of page
Writer's pictureVirginie Paradis

How to Conjugate ALLER – TO GO in French


As part of my new shorter & simpler HOW TO videos, I’ve decided to fully & clearly conjugate for you all the absolutely crucial French verbs, in the present tense, in 2 steps:

Step 1: just the verb, the whole verb conjugated with each subject pronoun.

Step 2: that same conjugated verb but this time in a sentence to give you context.

So far we’ve conjugated avoir, to have, and être, to be (fell free to go back to these latest videos if you need a little review) and this week we are going to conjugate another almost just as important verb: ALLER = TO GO.

Why is ALLER essential?

Not only is it a crucial verb that we constantly use but it’s also the base of a future tense called futur proche, which you could not conjugate at all without knowing the verb aller in the present tense.

By the way, the futur proche is a super easy tense. It is a compound tense, which means there are 2 elements in it:

Element 1: the verb aller in the present tense, which you’re about to learn, or review depending on your level,

Element 2: the infinitive!

Just like in English, I’m going to eat, I’m going is the verb to go in the present tense, to which you add the infinitive to eat. I’m going – to eat, je vais – manger. This means, as long as you can conjugate aller in the present tense and have a few infinitives in mind, you know a whole future tense! Super!

Let’s conjugate aller in the present tense with every single subject pronoun, and then, I’ll put it in a short sentence to give you context and more vocab at the same time. C’est parti!

Let’s conjugate ALLER

To go = Aller

That’s called the infinitive, l’infinitif, which means it is not conjugated. Now let’s conjugate it, in the present tense.

I go = Je vais I go to yoga once a week = Je vais au yoga une fois par semaine

You go = Tu vas (casual) You go there often? = Tu y vas souvent?

She goes = Elle va She’s going to university to study chemistry = Elle va à l’université pour étudier la chimie

He goes = Il va I don’t know where he’s going = Je ne sais pas où il va

We go = on va We are not going on vacation this year = On ne va pas en vacances cette année*

On is the singular subject pronoun for we. Is it strange to think of we as singular? Think of a unit, think of a country. A country is made up of several people so it’s plural yet you say “my country IS” so it’s also singular. On is more used in spoken French, it’s the more casual way to say we.

We go = nous allons We are not going on vacation this year = Nous n’allons pas en vacances cette année*

Nous is the plural subject pronoun for we. It’s less used in spoken French than on, which we just saw, and it’s the more formal, the more proper way to say we.

*Just to be sure you understand, the above 2 sentences mean the exact same thing and that is “We are not going on vacation this year” The only difference is that “on” is more casual and “nous” is more “formal”

Same sentence as the one above, same meaning, only this time, we, sounds more formal.

On ne va pas en vacances cette année = Nous n’allons pas en vacances cette année

You go = vous allez (formal or you all) Where are you going? = Où allez-vous?

They go = Elles vont (for an exclusively feminine group) They always go to the cinema together = Elles vont toujours au cinéma ensemble

They go = Ils vont (for a masculine or a mixed group) They go to France every summer = Ils vont en France chaque été

One more time!

ALLER = TO GO

je vais = I go

tu vas = you go (casual)

elle va = she goes

il va = he goes

on va = we go (singular + casual)

nous allons = we go (plural + formal)

vous allez = you go (formal or you all)

elles vont = they go (feminine)

ils vont = they go (masculine or mixed)

Ready to take your French to the next level?

RECEIVE VIRGINIE’S FREE COURSE to Help You Become a little bit French in 3 Steps.

Learn French Online with Virginie via the French Truly Online School

Learn French in France with Virginie via the Full French Immersion Courses in France & in the US + soon coming to the UK 🙂

Watch Testimonials from Virginie’s Happy Students!

Learn French online with Virginie

I launched French Truly’s online school in August 2018 and so far it’s a huge success! You can join whenever, either by buying the French online course(s) of your choice or by becoming a monthly member giving you access to my French Truly Online School from $10 / month. See more details about the membership at the bottom of this page

Each French online course is packed with video & audio files along with written material, to make it as fun, easy, and user friendly as possible for you! Come and learn French online with me!


In this course, you will find 15 videos (+ 10 bonus ones) to help & accompany you every step of the way through the course + for each word, each sentence, each expression, each conjugated verb, I have created an audio file of my voice, slow and slightly faster speed. Your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.

Did you know…

You can converse (speak + understand) in French with only 600 WORDS?

The average French person only uses between 300 & 3,000 WORDS?

This means that if you can master a relatively short list of words, you’ll be able to express yourself like the average French person! Plus you’re much more likely to understand the French when they talk back to you!

This course will teach you…

1- How to speak French

2- How to pronounce French

3- How to make French sentences

4- How to conjugate all the most common French verbs

5- How to polish your results

6- How to self evaluate your French

More info HERE

  1. It should take you about 30 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 10 lessons

  2. This course is designed for a beginner / intermediate level. If you are intermediate but feel like you could really reinforce your foundations, you will love it.

  3. You can join whenever, either by buying the course or by becoming a monthly member giving you access to my French online courses from $10 / month. See more details about the membership at the bottom of this page


In this course you will find 11 videos + 150 audio files + 92 pages PDF format to help & accompany you every step of the way throughout the course. In some parts of the videos, my face will appear close up and profile so you can easily see how I make these sounds with my mouth. The 150 audio files are composed of the 100 most popular French words and the 50 most common French phrases. They are recordings of my voice, speaking slowly enough so you can easily grasp every syllable. Your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.

NB: if you are the proud owner of my previous French online course 600 WORDS, don’t worry, this is not a repeat as we are now exploring 1 letter words and up, whereas in 600 WORDS we began at 4 letter words and up.

Combine knowledge with confidence…

For you to be able to have a pleasant and efficient conversation with a French person, one thing is key… can you guess what it is? Confidence! How well do you think you will communicate in French if you don’t feel confident about your accent? If you are scared that people won’t understand you? Or even worse if you think someone might make fun of you? Without a minimum of confidence there is no room for communication. Yet if you feel confident, you can afford to make a few mistakes here and there because people will still understand you. What prevents a conversation from happening isn’t just a lack of knowledge, it’s also a lack of confidence. You need to have both to make it work, not to mention, to make it fun!

This course will teach you…

1- How to pronounce every letter of the alphabet

2- How to pronounce every digraph & trigraph

3- How to make every French sentence flow

4- How to pronounce the 100 most popular French words

5- How to pronounce the 50 most popular French phrases

6- How to avoid the pronunciation mistakes everyone makes

More info HERE

  1. It should take you about 20 to 2 hours to complete this course, which is made up of 11 lessons

  2. This course is designed for a beginner level. If you are intermediate but lack confidence when it comes to talking and feel like you could really benefit from focusing on pronunciation, you will love it.

  3. You can join whenever, either by buying the course or by becoming a monthly member giving you access to my French online courses from $10 / month. See more details about the membership below 

Become a monthly member!

My goal is to transform your French language learning experience. This is why I’ve decided to offer you a new way to learn French online and gain access to the French Truly Online School! Actually, more than 1 new way, you’ll have 3 plans to choose from so come and learn French online with me!

Whichever you pick, FOCUS at $10, HORIZON at $15, or IMMERSION at $99, you will always be free to either upgrade or downgrade, stay or leave.

Not a membership kind of person? Don’t worry! Every course can still be bought separately at the normal price and be yours for ever. Whichever format you choose, your French language learning experience has never been so easy, fun, and fruitful. You can learn French online and benefit from the flexibility working at your own pace offers, while having me with you the whole time.


1 view0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page