👉 See also: Aller conjugation chart (with audio) »
Level: A1-A2 (Beginner)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
The French Word of the Day is aller, meaning “to go.” In addition to expressing movement or going places, this irregular verb is extremely versatile and appears in many everyday expressions—especially greetings and common phrases. Below, you’ll hear six key ways native speakers use aller in real life, with audio examples.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
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📘 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 example sentences & usages
Aller – to go
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 passé composé (common past tense) »
📊 Aller conjugation
Here’s the basic aller conjugation in the present tense.
- Je vais — I go / I’m going
- Tu vas — You go / You’re going (informal)
- Il / Elle va — He / She goes / is going
- Nous allons — We go / We’re going
- Vous allez — You go / You’re going (formal/plural)
- Ils / Elles vont — They go / They’re going
👉 See also: aller conjugation in French (updated with audio)
🔗 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 ? — how are you?
- ça va bien / ça va mal — I’m fine / not so good
👉 Ça va — How are you?
👉 S’en aller — to leave, to go away
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