Chapitre 3 – Les vacances
Module 3.2 Grammaire: aller
Let’s practice our grammar!
Aller
The verb aller is irregular in the present tense. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of the –s in the plural forms nous and vous 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/on va | ils/elles vont |
| past participle : allé | |
Aller literally means ‘to go’, but is used figuratively in salutations to say how one is doing.
| Corey: Salut, Joe-Bob , où vas -tu? | Corey: Hey, Joe-Bob, where are you going? | |
| Joe-Bob: Je vais au café. | Joe-Bob: I’m going to a coffee shop. | |
| Corey: Mais, tu as cours maintenant. | Corey: But, you have class right now. | |
| Joe-Bob: Oui, mais le prof est horrible, vraiment horrible! | Joe-Bob: Yes but, the prof is horrible, really horrible. | |
| Corey: Attention! Il arrive! | Corey: Watch out! He’s coming! | |
| Joe-Bob: Ah, bonjour monsieur le professeur. Comment allez-vous aujourd’hui? | Joe-Bob: Oh, hello, professor. How are you today? |
Aller is also used to talk about the near future, what one is ‘going to do.’ You’ll learn about this in the next module!