{"id":155,"date":"2024-02-27T18:17:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T23:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/capufren100\/chapter\/4-12-structure-le-verbe-aller\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T16:32:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:32:45","slug":"grammaire-aller-a","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/capufren100\/chapter\/grammaire-aller-a\/","title":{"raw":"Grammaire 1: aller \u00e0 (going to places)","rendered":"Grammaire 1: aller \u00e0 (going to places)"},"content":{"raw":"

On \u00e9tudie !<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

\r\n

What are we going to do? Where are we going to go? To talk about going places or going to do things, we use the irregular verb aller<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

Conjugaison du verbe\u00a0<\/span>aller<\/strong>\u00a0(to go)<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Singulier<\/th>\r\nPluriel<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n
je vais<\/strong><\/td>\r\nnous allons<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
tu vas<\/strong><\/td>\r\nvous allez<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
il, elle, on va<\/strong><\/td>\r\nils, elles vont<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n
\r\n\r\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/capufren100\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2203\/2024\/02\/5.10-Le-verbe-aller.mp3\"][\/audio]\r\n\r\nPronunciation hints: je vais<\/del>, tu vas<\/del>, nousz<\/sub>allons<\/del>, vousz<\/sub>allez<\/del>, ils<\/del>\/elles<\/del> vont<\/del>\r\n

Going places<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

(a) When talking about going to a place, we usually use the preposition \u00e0<\/strong> (to). Just as we have seen before with the preposition de<\/strong>, \u00e0<\/strong> also contracts with the definite articles le<\/strong> and les<\/strong>: \u00e0 + le = au<\/strong> restaurant; \u00e0 + les = aux<\/strong> magasins. There are no contractions with the articles la<\/strong> and l'<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

contractions avec\u00a0\u00e0<\/strong>\u00a0+ article d\u00e9fini<\/p>\r\n<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n

\r\n

\u00e0 + le =\u00a0au<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

\r\n

\u00e0 + les =\u00a0aux<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Fran\u00e7ois va \u00e0<\/strong> l'universit\u00e9.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Fran\u00e7ois goes to the university.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ava et Jean vont au<\/strong> mus\u00e9e.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Ava and Jean are going to the museum.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n[Note: not \u00e0 le<\/del> mus\u00e9e<\/strong>]<\/em>\r\n

Nous allons \u00e0 la<\/strong> montagne Grouse.\u00a0 \u00a0(We are going to Grouse mountain.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Vous n'allez<\/strong> jamais aux<\/strong> soir\u00e9es.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(You never go to the parties.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n[Note: not \u00e0 les<\/del> soir\u00e9es<\/strong><\/em>]<\/blockquote>\r\n

(b) The pronoun y<\/strong> can replace the destination, much like the word 'there' in English. You use it like a shortcut once the name of the place is established between the speakers:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

On va au mus\u00e9e<\/strong>. (We go to the museum.<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2794 On y<\/strong> va.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(We go there.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Tu vas chez Marie ?<\/strong> (Are you going to Marie's place?)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2794 Tu y<\/strong> vas ?\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Are you going there?)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Nous mangeons au\u00a0caf\u00e9<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0 (We eat in the caf\u00e9.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2794 Nous y<\/strong> mangeons.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(We eat there.)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

As you can see, (1) y<\/strong> goes before the verb; and (2) it can replace phrases with \u00e0<\/strong> (au mus\u00e9e\/caf\u00e9<\/strong>) and chez<\/strong> (chez Michel<\/strong>); it works with other verbs besides aller<\/strong> (like manger<\/strong>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

\u2014 Tu vas \u00e0 la soir\u00e9e chez Michel<\/strong> ce soir ? (Are you going to the party at Michel's house tonight?)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

\u2014 Oui, j'y<\/strong> vais. (Yes, I'm going [there])<\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

(c) You will often hear commands like: Allons-y<\/strong> or On y va<\/strong> (Let's go)<\/em> or Vas-y<\/strong> or Allez-y<\/strong> (Go ahead)<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

\u2014 Tu veux aller au resto<\/strong> avec moi ? (Do you want to go to the restaurant with me?)<\/em><\/p>\r\n

\u2014 Ouais ! On y<\/strong> va !\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (Yeah! Let's go!)<\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n(d) We have been using the verb aller<\/strong> when asking 'how are you?' (literally How is it going<\/em>?) and responding to the question (I'm, it's going well)<\/em>:\r\n
-Comment vas<\/strong>-tu, (Comment allez<\/strong>-vous)?\u00a0-Je vais<\/strong> bien (\u00e7a va<\/strong> bien).<\/blockquote>\r\n(5) In French, \"chez<\/strong>\" means \"at the home of\" or \"at the place of.\" It is used to indicate someone's home, place, or sometimes their professional place. Here are a few examples:\r\n
Chez moi<\/strong> - at my home<\/em>\r\n\r\nChez toi<\/strong> - at your home<\/em>\r\n\r\nChez le dentiste<\/strong> - at the dentist's (office)<\/em>\r\n\r\nChez Marie<\/strong> - at Marie's (place\/home)<\/em><\/blockquote>\r\n

Going to do things<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

We can also use aller<\/strong> to express future actions. To do so, we use an infinitive construction (just as we have done with aimer<\/strong> + infinitive to express likes and dislikes). See the next section for examples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\r\n

Ressources\u00a0suppl\u00e9mentaires<\/span><\/h4>\r\n

Watch this video to practice pronouncing aller<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Watch these videos to review the formation and use of the verb aller<\/strong>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n