French grammar · Beginner
The Near Future in French: Aller + Infinitive
The near future, le futur proche, is aller in the present tense plus an infinitive: je vais partir, I'm going to leave. Only aller changes for the person; the second verb stays in its dictionary form. It is the future most French speakers actually use in conversation.
Je vais appeler le médecin.
I'm going to call the doctor.
What it is
French builds its everyday future the same way English does with going to: take the verb of motion, conjugate it, and hang an infinitive off the end. Aller carries the person and the tense, and the infinitive carries the meaning, which is why you only ever have to conjugate one verb.
Je vais réserver une table pour ce soir. — I'm going to book a table for tonight.
How to spot it
If you can hear a form of aller followed immediately by an infinitive, you are looking at a near future rather than a statement about going somewhere.
- Elle va comprendre. — She's going to understand.
- Nous allons déménager en juin. — We're going to move house in June.
- Ça va prendre du temps. — That's going to take a while.
- Je vais à la gare. — I'm going to the station. (real movement, not a future)
Nothing comes between aller and the infinitive. There is no preposition, no que, and no participle: je vais partir, never je vais à partir.
Aller Near Future Quick Reference
Aller in the present, plus any infinitive
| Subject | Aller | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | vais | Je vais sortir. | I'm going to go out. |
| tu | vas | Tu vas adorer ça. | You're going to love this. |
| il / elle / on | va | On va commander. | We're going to order. |
| nous | allons | Nous allons attendre. | We're going to wait. |
| vous | allez | Vous allez voir. | You're going to see. |
| ils / elles | vont | Ils vont arriver tard. | They're going to arrive late. |
Common Aller Near Future Examples in French
Where the near future turns up in real conversation:
Plans Already Made
- Je vais prendre le train de midi.
- I'm going to take the midday train.
- On va dîner chez mes parents.
- We're going to have dinner at my parents' place.
- Elle va commencer un nouveau travail.
- She's going to start a new job.
- Ils vont se marier au printemps.
- They're going to get married in the spring.
Anything already decided or booked takes the near future in speech, even if it's weeks away.
Something About to Happen
- Attention, tu vas tomber !
- Careful, you're going to fall!
- Le film va commencer.
- The film is about to start.
- Il va pleuvoir, prends un parapluie.
- It's going to rain, take an umbrella.
- Je vais éternuer.
- I'm going to sneeze.
This is the near future at its most literal: the evidence is in front of you right now.
Questions and Suggestions
- Qu'est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end ?
- What are you going to do this weekend?
- On va au cinéma ou on va rester ici ?
- Are we going to the cinema or are we going to stay here?
- Vous allez rester longtemps ?
- Are you going to stay long?
- Qui va payer ?
- Who's going to pay?
In casual speech the question is usually built with intonation or est-ce que rather than inversion.
With Impersonal Subjects
- Il va y avoir du monde.
- There are going to be a lot of people.
- Il va falloir partir tôt.
- We're going to have to leave early.
- Ça va aller.
- It's going to be fine.
- Ça va être difficile.
- It's going to be hard.
Ça va aller and il va falloir are worth memorising whole; both are extremely frequent.
How the Near Future Is Built
One conjugated verb, one infinitive, and a couple of rules about where the small words go.
Only Aller Is Conjugated
The infinitive never changes for person, number, or tense. Once you know vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont, you can put any verb in the language into the near future.
Nous allons choisir un cadeau.
We're going to choose a present.
Conjugate aller, then stop.
Nothing Goes Between the Two Verbs
Unlike verbs such as commencer à or essayer de, aller in this construction takes a bare infinitive. Inserting à or de breaks the near future and turns aller back into a verb of motion.
Il va chercher les enfants.
He's going to pick up the children.
aller + infinitive, no preposition.
Ne … Pas Wraps Around Aller
The negation brackets the conjugated verb, which is aller, so the infinitive sits outside it. This is the same pattern you get with any two-verb structure in French.
Je ne vais pas travailler demain.
I'm not going to work tomorrow.
ne + aller + pas + infinitive.
Object Pronouns Attach to the Infinitive
Pronouns go immediately before the verb they belong to, and they belong to the infinitive, not to aller. So the pronoun lands between the two verbs.
Je vais te l'expliquer.
I'm going to explain it to you.
aller + pronoun + infinitive.
Aller Can Take Itself as the Infinitive
To say you're going to go somewhere, you need aller twice: once conjugated and once in the infinitive. French speakers usually add the pronoun y to make it sound less repetitive.
On va y aller à pied.
We're going to walk there.
je vais aller / je vais y aller.
Common Mistakes with Aller Near Future
Incorrect: Je vais à partir maintenant. — I'm going to leave now.
Correct: Je vais partir maintenant. — I'm going to leave now.
English going to contains the word to, and learners import it as à. The French construction takes a bare infinitive with nothing in front of it.
Incorrect: Je vais mangé au restaurant. — I'm going to eat at the restaurant.
Correct: Je vais manger au restaurant. — I'm going to eat at the restaurant.
Mangé is a past participle and belongs with avoir, not aller. In -er verbs the two forms sound almost identical, so the error is far more common in writing than in speech.
Incorrect: Je ne vais partir pas. — I'm not going to leave.
Correct: Je ne vais pas partir. — I'm not going to leave.
Pas closes the negation immediately after the conjugated verb. Aller is the conjugated verb here, so pas comes before the infinitive, not after it.
Incorrect: Je le vais faire ce soir. — I'm going to do it tonight.
Correct: Je vais le faire ce soir. — I'm going to do it tonight.
An object pronoun sits in front of the verb it is the object of. Le is the object of faire, so it goes between aller and the infinitive.
The Near Future, Person by Person
Three tables cover almost everything you'll need: the plain affirmative, what happens when you add pronouns or negation, and the past version of the same structure.
Aller Plus Three Different Infinitives
The infinitive column never changes. Read down each column and you'll see that the only moving part is aller itself.
| Pronoun | aller (present) | + partir | + finir | + attendre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | vais | vais partir | vais finir | vais attendre |
| tu | vas | vas partir | vas finir | vas attendre |
| il / elle / on | va | va partir | va finir | va attendre |
| nous | allons | allons partir | allons finir | allons attendre |
| vous | allez | allez partir | allez finir | allez attendre |
| ils / elles | vont | vont partir | vont finir | vont attendre |
Vais, vas, va and vont look nothing like allons and allez. Aller is irregular in the present, and that irregularity is the only thing to learn here.
Negation, Pronouns, and Reflexives
Pas closes in on aller; every pronoun clusters in front of the infinitive. Compare the three columns for the same person and the pattern becomes visible.
| Pronoun | affirmative | negative | with a pronoun | reflexive verb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | je vais partir | je ne vais pas partir | je vais le faire | je vais me lever |
| tu | tu vas partir | tu ne vas pas partir | tu vas le faire | tu vas te lever |
| il / elle / on | il va partir | il ne va pas partir | il va le faire | il va se lever |
| nous | nous allons partir | nous n'allons pas partir | nous allons le faire | nous allons nous lever |
| vous | vous allez partir | vous n'allez pas partir | vous allez le faire | vous allez vous lever |
| ils / elles | ils vont partir | ils ne vont pas partir | ils vont le faire | ils vont se lever |
Ne becomes n' before allons and allez, which start with a vowel: nous n'allons pas rester.
The Near Future in the Past
Put aller in the imperfect and you get was going to, an action that was imminent but may never have happened. The structure is otherwise identical.
| Pronoun | aller (imparfait) | + partir | + dire |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | allais | j'allais partir | j'allais te le dire |
| tu | allais | tu allais partir | tu allais me le dire |
| il / elle / on | allait | il allait partir | il allait nous le dire |
| nous | allions | nous allions partir | nous allions te le dire |
| vous | alliez | vous alliez partir | vous alliez me le dire |
| ils / elles | allaient | ils allaient partir | ils allaient nous le dire |
J'allais te le dire is the standard way to say I was just about to tell you.
The Details That Trip People Up
The structure is simple, but three things about it behave differently from English.
Reflexive verbs keep their pronoun next to the infinitive
The reflexive pronoun has to match the subject, but it stays glued to the infinitive rather than moving up next to aller.
- Je vais me coucher tôt.
- I'm going to go to bed early.
- Tu vas te fatiguer.
- You're going to tire yourself out.
- Nous allons nous promener.
- We're going to go for a walk.
The pronoun changes with the subject even though the infinitive doesn't: me, te, se, nous, vous, se.
Aller plus aller, and the useful y
There is no rule against repeating aller, and French does it happily. Adding y avoids the repetition when the destination is already known.
- Je vais aller au marché samedi.
- I'm going to go to the market on Saturday.
- On y va !
- Let's go!
- Je vais y aller, il est tard.
- I'm going to head off, it's late.
Je vais y aller is one of the most common ways to announce that you're leaving a room or a party.
Time markers are optional
Because aller already signals the future, you don't need demain or bientôt for the sentence to be understood as future. Adding one narrows the timing, it doesn't create it.
- Je vais lui parler.
- I'm going to speak to him.
- Je vais lui parler ce soir.
- I'm going to speak to him tonight.
- Un jour, tu vas comprendre.
- One day you're going to understand.
With a distant or vague time frame the futur simple often sounds better: un jour, tu comprendras.
Aller Near Future FAQs
- How do you form the near future in French?
- Conjugate aller in the present tense and add an infinitive: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont plus any verb. Je vais réserver les billets means I'm going to book the tickets. Only aller changes.
- When should I use futur proche instead of futur simple?
- Use the near future for anything decided, arranged, or about to happen, and in conversation generally: on va manger dans dix minutes. Keep the futur simple for writing, distant events, and formal promises: je vous recontacterai.
- How do you make the near future negative?
- Wrap ne … pas around aller and leave the infinitive outside: je ne vais pas sortir ce soir. Before allons and allez, ne shortens to n': nous n'allons pas rester.
- Can you say je vais aller in French?
- Yes, and it's completely normal when you're going to go somewhere: je vais aller à la banque. If the destination is already clear from the conversation, French speakers usually say je vais y aller instead.
- What does j'allais partir mean?
- It's the near future built on the imperfect of aller, and it means I was about to leave. It usually implies the action was interrupted: j'allais partir quand le téléphone a sonné, I was about to leave when the phone rang.