French grammar · Intermediate
French Periphrastic Tenses: Aller, Venir De, and Être En Train De
A periphrastic tense is one built from a helper verb plus an infinitive instead of an ending. French has three in daily use: aller plus an infinitive for the near future, venir de plus an infinitive for the recent past, and être en train de plus an infinitive for something happening right now.
Je vais partir dans cinq minutes.
I'm going to leave in five minutes.
What it is
Most French tenses live in the ending of the verb. A periphrastic tense does the same job with two words instead: a conjugated helper carries the person and the timing, and the main verb stays in the infinitive. Nothing is irregular about them, which is exactly why spoken French reaches for them so often.
Je viens de rentrer et je vais me reposer. — I've just got home and I'm going to rest.
How to spot it
Look for a conjugated form of aller, venir de, or être en train de followed immediately by an infinitive. The helper tells you when; the infinitive tells you what.
- Elle va téléphoner à sa mère. — She's going to call her mother.
- Nous venons de finir le repas. — We've just finished the meal.
- Il est en train de préparer le dîner. — He's in the middle of making dinner.
- Tu vas adorer ce film. — You're going to love this film.
The infinitive never changes. Only the helper is conjugated, so there is nothing extra to memorise once you know aller, venir, and être.
Periphrastic Tenses Quick Reference
The three everyday periphrastic tenses
| Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aller + infinitive | near future | je vais sortir — I'm going to go out |
| venir de + infinitive | recent past | je viens de sortir — I've just gone out |
| être en train de + infinitive | in progress now | je suis en train de sortir — I'm on my way out |
| allais + infinitive | was going to | j'allais sortir — I was about to go out |
| venais de + infinitive | had just | je venais de sortir — I had just gone out |
| étais en train de + infinitive | was in the middle of | j'étais en train de sortir — I was on my way out |
| être sur le point de + infinitive | on the verge of | je suis sur le point de sortir — I'm about to go out |
Common Periphrastic Tenses Examples in French
Each structure in the situations where it actually turns up:
Aller for What Comes Next
- On va manger vers huit heures.
- We're going to eat around eight.
- Je vais te rappeler ce soir.
- I'll call you back this evening.
- Ils vont déménager en septembre.
- They're going to move in September.
- Attention, tu vas tomber.
- Careful, you're going to fall.
This is the ordinary spoken future in French, even for things weeks away.
Venir De for What Just Happened
- Je viens de recevoir ton message.
- I've just got your message.
- Le train vient de partir.
- The train has just left.
- Nous venons de nous installer ici.
- We've just moved in here.
- Elle vient d'apprendre la nouvelle.
- She's just heard the news.
Venir de covers the same ground as English have just, and like it, it resists a specific time expression.
Être En Train De for Right Now
- Je suis en train de travailler, je te rappelle.
- I'm working right now, I'll call you back.
- Ils sont en train de discuter dans le couloir.
- They're talking in the corridor.
- Elle était en train de lire quand je suis entré.
- She was reading when I came in.
- Le pays est en train de changer.
- The country is changing.
French has no separate progressive tense, so this phrase exists to insist that an action is under way.
Stacked and Combined
- Je vais être en train de dormir à cette heure-là.
- I'll be asleep at that time.
- Il venait de sortir quand tu as appelé.
- He had just left when you called.
- On allait partir, mais il s'est mis à pleuvoir.
- We were about to leave, but it started raining.
- Tu vas venir de finir quand je passerai.
- You'll have only just finished when I come by.
These stack freely because the helper is a normal verb and can itself go into any tense.
How the Periphrastic Tenses Work
One conjugated helper, one infinitive, and a couple of rules about where the small words go.
Only the Helper Is Conjugated
Aller, venir, and être take the person and the tense. The second verb stays in its dictionary form no matter who the subject is, which is why these tenses are the first ones learners can use confidently.
Nous allons prendre le bus.
We're going to take the bus.
Helper conjugates, infinitive rests.
Venir Needs De, Aller Does Not
Venir de plus an infinitive is a fixed unit and the de is compulsory. Aller takes the infinitive bare. Dropping the de turns the recent past into a statement about physically coming somewhere.
Je viens de manger, mais je viens manger avec vous demain.
I've just eaten, but I'm coming to eat with you tomorrow.
venir de = just; venir = come.
Object Pronouns Attach to the Infinitive
In these constructions the pronoun goes in front of the second verb, not the helper, because it belongs to the action the infinitive names.
Je vais le lui expliquer.
I'm going to explain it to him.
Pronoun hugs the infinitive.
Negation Wraps the Helper
Ne and pas surround the conjugated verb and leave the infinitive outside. This is the same rule as any other conjugated verb, but it looks surprising because the meaning belongs to the infinitive.
Je ne vais pas y aller.
I'm not going to go.
ne + helper + pas + infinitive.
Only Two Tenses of the Helper Are Really Used
Venir de and être en train de exist in the present and the imparfait and almost nowhere else. There is no future of venir de in practice, because had just and will have just are handled by other tenses.
Je venais de raccrocher.
I had just hung up.
Present or imparfait, and that is all.
Common Mistakes with Periphrastic Tenses
Incorrect: Je viens finir mes devoirs. — I've just finished my homework.
Correct: Je viens de finir mes devoirs. — I've just finished my homework.
Without de, venir keeps its literal meaning and the sentence says I'm coming to finish my homework. The de is what turns venir into a tense marker.
Incorrect: Je vais à partir demain. — I'm going to leave tomorrow.
Correct: Je vais partir demain. — I'm going to leave tomorrow.
Aller takes a bare infinitive. The à belongs to aller when it introduces a place, as in je vais à Paris, not when it introduces another verb.
Incorrect: Je suis travaillant. — I'm working.
Correct: Je suis en train de travailler. — I'm working.
French has no continuous tense built from être plus a participle. The -ant form is not a verb tense, and the only way to insist on an action in progress is en train de.
Incorrect: Je vais pas le faire. — I'm not going to do it.
Correct: Je ne vais pas le faire. — I'm not going to do it.
Ne and pas both belong around the conjugated helper. Dropping ne is common in casual speech, but in writing and in careful speech the negation needs both halves.
Full Conjugations of the Three Structures
Each structure appears here in the present and in the imparfait, since those are the two tenses that matter. The infinitive stays identical down every column.
Aller plus Infinitive
The present of aller gives the near future; the imparfait gives was going to, usually about something that never happened.
| Pronoun | futur proche (aller + partir) | futur du passé (allais + partir) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | vais partir | allais partir |
| tu | vas partir | allais partir |
| il / elle / on | va partir | allait partir |
| nous | allons partir | allions partir |
| vous | allez partir | alliez partir |
| ils / elles | vont partir | allaient partir |
J'allais partir usually carries an unspoken but: j'allais partir quand il est arrivé.
Venir De plus Infinitive
The present means have just; the imparfait means had just. Note the irregular stem vien- in the singular and the third person plural.
| Pronoun | passé récent (venir de + finir) | passé récent du passé (venais de + finir) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | viens de finir | venais de finir |
| tu | viens de finir | venais de finir |
| il / elle / on | vient de finir | venait de finir |
| nous | venons de finir | venions de finir |
| vous | venez de finir | veniez de finir |
| ils / elles | viennent de finir | venaient de finir |
Before a vowel the de elides: je viens d'arriver, elles venaient d'entrer.
Être En Train De plus Infinitive
Only être is conjugated; en train de is frozen. The present says it is happening now, the imparfait says it was happening then.
| Pronoun | présent (être en train de + lire) | imparfait (étais en train de + lire) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis en train de lire | étais en train de lire |
| tu | es en train de lire | étais en train de lire |
| il / elle / on | est en train de lire | était en train de lire |
| nous | sommes en train de lire | étions en train de lire |
| vous | êtes en train de lire | étiez en train de lire |
| ils / elles | sont en train de lire | étaient en train de lire |
Train here is the old sense of course or movement, not the railway one.
Moving the Whole Structure Into the Past
Each periphrastic tense has a past twin, made simply by putting the helper into the imparfait. These are the forms that let you narrate.
J'allais plus infinitive
Was going to, was about to. It sets up an intention that something else usually interrupts, so it very often shares a sentence with a passé composé.
- J'allais te le dire.
- I was going to tell you.
- Nous allions sortir quand le téléphone a sonné.
- We were about to go out when the phone rang.
- Elle allait accepter, puis elle a changé d'avis.
- She was going to accept, then she changed her mind.
This is how French says the thing I meant to do, without any conditional.
Je venais de plus infinitive
Had just. It places one past event immediately before another, and it is the natural alternative to a plus-que-parfait when the gap is tiny.
- Je venais de me coucher quand on a frappé.
- I had just gone to bed when someone knocked.
- Il venait de perdre son emploi.
- He had just lost his job.
- Elles venaient de se rencontrer.
- They had just met.
Compare j'étais parti, I had left, which says nothing about how recently.
Être sur le point de
A stronger version of aller plus infinitive, for something on the very edge of happening. It works in any tense, unlike the other two.
- Le film est sur le point de commencer.
- The film is about to start.
- J'étais sur le point de renoncer.
- I was on the verge of giving up.
- Elle sera sur le point de partir à midi.
- She'll be about to leave at noon.
Reach for this when aller would be too vague about how imminent the action is.
Periphrastic Tenses FAQs
- What is a periphrastic tense in French?
- One made from a conjugated helper verb plus an infinitive rather than from an ending. Je vais partir, je viens de partir, and je suis en train de partir are all periphrastic, because the timing sits in aller, venir, and être rather than in partir.
- What is the periphrastic future in French?
- It is the futur proche: aller in the present plus an infinitive, as in on va voir. It dominates spoken French for anything planned or imminent, while the futur simple on va voir versus on verra sounds more formal or more distant.
- Why does venir need de but aller does not?
- Because venir de is a fixed idiom that has drifted away from the verb's literal meaning. Je viens manger means I'm coming to eat, while je viens de manger means I've just eaten. The de is the only thing separating the two.
- Is être en train de necessary to say what I am doing?
- No. Je travaille already covers I work and I am working. Add en train de only when you want to stress that the action is under way at this moment, often to explain why you cannot do something else.
- Can I put a periphrastic tense in the past?
- Yes, by putting the helper in the imparfait. J'allais partir means I was about to leave, and je venais de partir means I had just left. Those two past forms are used almost as often as the present ones.