Move to places with aller and à

By UK GCSE French · independent study · myAudience

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Move to places with aller and à

Aller means to go and is irregular even though its infinitive ends in er. Its present pattern is je vais, tu vas, il va, elle va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont, elles vont. « Nous allons » expresses we go or we are going, according to the context.

For destinations with a definite article, à combines with le as au and with les as aux. « Je vais au parc » contains à plus le parc. Do not write à le parc. With la the words stay separate: « Je vais à la bibliothèque ». Before a vowel, use à l’, as in à l’école.

Vocabulary: le parc is the park, la bibliothèque is the library and l’école is the school. These location patterns depend on the noun’s article. They do not supply a universal rule for every country, city or region, which requires separate instruction.

Read an invented plan: « Nous allons au parc. Mon amie va à la bibliothèque. » The first subject is plural, so allons is needed; the second is singular, so va is needed. Destination and subject each control a different part of the sentence. Check them separately when editing.

Worked example: Translate “We are going to the park”.

Choose nous allons for the present action.

Combine à with le parc to make au parc.

Answer: Nous allons au parc.

Check your understanding: Correct « Elle va à le parc ».

Answer: Elle va au parc.

Why: À and le normally contract to au; elle va already has the correct verb form.