The verb aller is irregular in the present tense. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of the –sin the plural forms nousandvous forms. This -s is pronounced as a /z/ to link with the vowel sound in the plural forms allons and allez.
aller‘to go’
je vais
nous allons
tu vas
vous allez
il/elle/iel/on va
ils/elles/iels vont
past participle : allé
Aller literally means ‘to go’, but is used figuratively in salutations to say how one is doing.
Caleb: Salut, Edouard, où vas -tu?
Caleb: Hey, Edouard, where are you going?
Edouard: Je vaisau café.
Edouard: I’m going to a coffee shop.
Caleb: Mais, tu as cours maintenant.
Caleb: But, you have class right now.
Edouard: Oui, mais le prof est horrible, vraiment horrible!
Edouard: Yes but, the prof is horrible, really horrible.
Caleb: Attention! Il arrive!
Caleb: Watch out! He’s coming!
Edouard: Ah, bonjour monsieur le professeur. Comment allez-vous aujourd’hui?
Edouard: Oh, hello, professor. How are you today?
Alleris also used to talk about the near future, what one is ‘going to do.’
formation
There are two future tenses in French, the simple future and the near future (le futur proche). The futur proche is usually translated into English as going + infinitive (e.g., going to eat, going to drink, going to talk). The futur proche is characteristic of spoken French but may be used in informal writing. It is formed with the verb aller (to go) conjugated in the present tense followed by an infinitive.
nager‘to swim’
je vais nager, I am going to swim
nous allons nager, we are going to swim
tu vas nager, you are going to swim
vous allez nager, you are going to swim
il, elle / on va nager, he, she (it) / one is going to swim
ils / elles vont nager, they are going to swim
To negate the futur proche, place ne … pas around the conjugated form of aller: Je ne vais pas nager. (I am not going to swim).
Caleb: Je vais aller à Redfish Lake. J’adore l’eau. Je vais nager. Tu viens avec moi, Sophie ?
Caleb: I am going to go to Redfish Lake. I love water. I am going to swim. Are you coming with me, Sophie?
Sophie: Tu es fou! Il fait trop froid! Je ne vais pas nager!
Sophie: Are you crazy? It is too cold! I am not going to swim!
uses
The futur proche is used to refer to most future events in informal conversation. For details on usage see future: usage.
Caleb: Sam! Sacha! Nous allons aller à Redfish Lake.
Caleb: Sam! Sacha! We are going to go to Redfish Lake.
Sacha: Mais il y a de gros nuages gris, il va pleuvoir.
Sacha: But there are big gray clouds. It’s going to rain.
Caleb: Chouette! Je vais nager sous la pluie.
Caleb: Great! I am going to swim in the rain.
aller in the imperfect + infinitive
The construction aller + infinitive is also found with the verb aller in the imperfect (l’imparfait) to indicate what someone was going to do. For example:
Les copains allaient partir pour Redfish Lake, quand ils ont vu un éclair.
The friends were going to leave for Redfish Lake, when they saw lightening.
Sophie: Caleb, tu vas te faire électrocuter! Moi, je vais faire du shopping. Qui va venir avec moi?
Sophie: Caleb, you are going to get yourself electrocuted! I’m going to do some shopping. Who’s going to come with me?
