Aller Conjugation: Every Tense With Examples

Aller means to go, and you will use it more than almost any other verb in French. It takes you places (je vais à Montréal), asks how someone is doing (comment ça va ?), and builds the future tense people actually speak (je vais manger). It also ends in -er, so many learners expect it to behave like parler. It doesn't. Je alle and j'allerai are mistakes I hear every week.

This page gives you the full aller conjugation in every tense you need, with pronunciation hints, the three-stem trick that makes the verb less random, 10 example sentences, the expressions built on aller, and the mistakes English speakers make most often.

Why aller conjugation looks so strange: three stems

The Académie française is clear on this point: aller is irregular, so it cannot belong to the "first group" of regular -er verbs. That group contains every infinitive in -er except aller and envoyer.

Here is the trick I give my students. Every form of aller is built on one of three stems:

And the subjunctive adds its own twist, aill- (que j'aille). Once you see these stems, each table below is a variation on something you already know.

Aller conjugation in the present tense

Learn this table first. It is also the base of the near future.

Notice the liaison: nous allons and vous allez are pronounced with a z sound linking the two words. Skipping it is one of the clearest signs of a beginner.

Tip from class: tu vas and il va sound exactly the same. The s of vas is silent. When students hesitate between them in writing, I tell them: tu always gets an s, in almost every tense.

Aller in the passé composé: always with être

Larousse lists aller as a verb conjugated avec l'auxiliaire être. It never takes avoir.

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject: Julie est allée au marché, mes parents sont allés en Floride. You can't hear the extra e or s, but you must write them.

Aller belongs to the short list of movement verbs that use être (with venir, arriver, partir and the others). Our être conjugation guide has the full list and a way to remember it. It also explains why you should write je suis allé à Paris rather than the spoken j'ai été à Paris.

The plus-que-parfait works the same way with être in the imparfait: j'étais allé(e), "I had gone".

Aller in the imparfait: j'allais

The imparfait is regular: take allons, drop -ons, add the endings.

Use it for habits and background: Quand j'étais petite, j'allais chez ma grand-mère tous les étés (When I was little, I used to go to my grandmother's every summer).

J'allais + infinitive also means "I was about to": J'allais t'appeler ! (I was just about to call you!). Students love this one because it saves a lot of awkward explanations.

Aller in the future and the conditional: the ir- stem

Both tenses use ir-, which looks nothing like aller. This is the form students forget most.

J'irai and j'irais sound almost the same (zhee-RAY / zhee-REH). In speech, context does the work. In writing, check whether you mean "will" or "would".

The conditional is perfect for polite suggestions: On irait au cinéma ce soir ? (Shall we go to the movies tonight?) sounds softer than on va au cinéma ?

Aller in the subjunctive and the imperative

Aille is pronounced eye, like the English word. Que nous allions and que vous alliez are spelled exactly like the imparfait. You need these forms after il faut que, je veux que, avant que: Il faut que j'aille à la banque (I have to go to the bank).

The imperative has three forms: va, allons, allez. The Académie française points out that va ends in -a, while regular -er verbs end in -e (chante, mange). There is no s: Va dans ta chambre ! (Go to your room!).

Except in one case. Larousse notes that va takes an extra s before the pronoun y: vas-y (go ahead, go for it), pronounced vah-ZEE. The s is only there for the sound. You will hear vas-y constantly, from parents at the playground to fans at a hockey game.

The other forms: present participle allant, past participle allé. In novels you will meet the passé simple (il alla, ils allèrent). Recognize it, don't use it.

The futur proche: aller + infinitive

This is the most useful thing aller does. The University of Texas French grammar defines it simply: aller in the present, followed by an infinitive.

• Je vais manger. I'm going to eat.
• Il va pleuvoir. It's going to rain.
• Nous allons partir à huit heures. We're going to leave at eight.

The same grammar notes that the futur proche is typical of spoken French. For the negative, put ne… pas around aller, not around the infinitive: Je ne vais pas nager. (I'm not going to swim.)

Je vais aller (I'm going to go) uses aller twice, and it is perfectly correct. Our article on the futur proche vs futur simple explains when each future sounds right.

10 example sentences with aller

1. Je vais au travail en métro. I go to work by subway.
2. Comment allez-vous ? How are you? (formal)
3. On va prendre un café ? Shall we grab a coffee?
4. Elle est allée à Québec pour le Carnaval. She went to Québec City for Carnival.
5. Nous allions à la plage tous les dimanches. We used to go to the beach every Sunday.
6. J'irai te voir l'année prochaine. I'll come and see you next year.
7. Tu irais en France sans parler français ? Would you go to France without speaking French?
8. Il faut que nous allions chez le médecin. We have to go to the doctor's.
9. Ce pull te va très bien. That sweater looks great on you.
10. Allez, on y va ! Come on, let's go!

Everyday expressions with aller

Larousse lists several meanings beyond "to go": being in a certain state of health, working properly, and suiting someone.

Pay attention to aller à vs aller chez: you go à a place (à la banque, au cinéma) and chez a person (chez Marie, chez le dentiste). Our guide to French prepositions à, de, en, dans and chez covers this in detail.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Mistake: J'ai allé au cinéma. → Say instead: Je suis allé(e) au cinéma. Aller always takes être.
• Mistake: Elle est allé. → Say instead: Elle est allée. The participle agrees.
• Mistake: J'allerai demain. → Say instead: J'irai demain. The future stem is ir-.
• Mistake: Je vais à aller. → Say instead: Je vais aller. No preposition between aller and the infinitive.
• Mistake: Va-y ! → Say instead: Vas-y ! Add the s before y.
• Mistake: Je vais à chez moi. → Say instead: Je vais chez moi. Chez already means "to the home of".

Practice

Fill in the correct form of aller.

1. Vous ___ bien ? (present)
2. Mes amies ___ ___ au concert hier. (passé composé)
3. Demain, j'___ à la bibliothèque. (future)
4. Il faut que tu ___ chez le dentiste. (subjunctive)
5. Nous ___ partir dans cinq minutes. (futur proche)

Answers: 1. allez · 2. sont allées · 3. irai · 4. ailles · 5. allons

If you want to review the present forms of aller with the other key verbs, the free French Keys flashcards take five minutes a day.

In short

Aller uses three stems: v- in the present singular and ils vont, all- for nous, vous and the imparfait, and ir- for the future and the conditional. It always takes être in the passé composé, and aller + infinitive is how French people talk about the future every day. Next, compare it with venir and avoir, then see where it fits among the most common French verbs.

If you'd like someone to check your vous allez liaison and your je suis allée agreement, book a free 30-minute assessment with Magali. You'll leave knowing exactly which verbs and tenses to work on next.