Published October 21, 2025 • Updated April 1, 2026 Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
📘 Aller Meaning
Aller means “to go” in French, and it’s one of the most important verbs in the language. It’s used to talk about movement, travel, and going places, but it also appears in many idiomatic expressions and grammatical structures. For example, aller + infinitif is used to form the near future tense (e.g., je vais manger – I’m going to eat), and je vais bien means “I’m doing fine.”
🎧 Aller pronunciation
The pronunciation of aller is /ale/, which sounds like ah-lay.
📝 Aller examples
1. Movement / going somewhere
Je vais à Paris.
I’m going to Paris.
Elle va à l’école.
She’s going to school.
2. Futur proche (aller + infinitive)
Nous allons manger.
We’re going to eat.
Il va commencer.
He’s going to start.
3. Asking or saying how someone is
Comment ça va ?
How’s it going?
Ça va bien.
It’s going well.
4. Fit / function / suitability
Ce pantalon te va bien.
Those pants fit you well.
5. Imperative / encouragement
Allez !
Come on!
Vas-y ! / Allez-y !
Go ahead! / Go!
6. Health or state
Il va bien.
He’s doing well.
Ça ne va pas.
Something’s wrong.
👉 Explore the reflexive verb s’en aller (to leave, to go away) »
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⚠️ Aller in the passé composé — be careful!
The auxiliary verb for aller in the passé composé is être (to be), not avoir (to have). In addition, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.
✅ Je suis allé en France.
❌ J’ai allé en France.
✅ Elle est allée à l‘école.
❌ Elle est allé à l’école.
👉 See also: French Être verbs in the passé composé »
🔗 Related words and expressions
- aller bien / mal — to be doing well / poorly
- aller chercher — to go get, to pick up
- aller à pied — to go on foot
- aller en voiture / en train / en avion — to go by car / by train / by plane
- aller au cinéma / à l’école / en France — to go to the movies / to school / to France
- ça va ? (full lesson) — how are you?
- ça va bien / ça va mal — I’m fine / not so good
- s’en aller (full lesson) – to leave, to go away
Related lessons
👉 Aller conjugation chart (with audio) »
👉 Allez (come on) Word of the Day lesson »
👉 S’en aller — to leave »
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👉 Verb conjugations hub »
👉 French Word of the Day »
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