Aller Conjugation: All Tenses of the French Verb “aller”
Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed August 2026
Aller means “to go.” It also builds the futur proche, the everyday way of talking about what is about to happen, and it is the verb behind ça va, the most common greeting in French.
Aller is where most learners first meet a truly irregular verb, and there is no way around it. You need it for destinations (je vais au bureau), for health and mood (comment ça va ?), and above all for the near future: je vais partir, on va voir. In spoken French the futur proche is used far more often than the simple future, so aller ends up inside a large share of the sentences you hear about tomorrow.
Aller looks like a regular -er verb and behaves like nothing of the sort. Three different stems share the work. The present uses v- in the singular and the third person plural (je vais, tu vas, il va, ils vont) but the regular all- stem for nous allons and vous allez. The imperfect and the present participle keep all- throughout (j'allais, allant). The future and conditional are built on ir-, which contains no letter from the infinitive at all: j'irai, tu iras, j'irais. The subjunctive splits the same way as the present, with j'aille but nous allions.
Aller takes être in compound tenses, so the participle agrees with the subject: elle est allée, nous sommes allés, mes sœurs sont allées. Do not confuse this with the futur proche, where aller is the conjugated verb and the following infinitive never changes: elles vont partir.
Aller in context
Présent
Je vais au marché tous les samedis matin. I go to the market every Saturday morning.
Imparfait
Enfants, nous allions à la mer chaque mois d'août. As children, we used to go to the seaside every August.
Passé composé
Elle est allée chez le médecin ce matin. She went to the doctor this morning.
Futur simple
Vous irez en Bretagne cet été ? Will you go to Brittany this summer?
Subjonctif présent
Il faut que tu ailles chercher les enfants à cinq heures. You need to go pick up the children at five.
Common mistakes with aller
Using avoir in the passé composé
✗ J'ai allé à Lyon en train.
✓ Je suis allé à Lyon en train. — I went to Lyon by train.
Aller is one of the core être verbs. Once you choose être, the participle has to agree with the subject: je suis allée if you are female, nous sommes allés for a group.
Forgetting to contract à + le
✗ Je vais à le cinéma.
✓ Je vais au cinéma. — I'm going to the cinema.
À le always contracts to au, and à les to aux. The feminine and the elided forms do not contract: je vais à la piscine, je vais à l'école.
Indicative where the subjunctive is required
✗ Il faut que je vais à la banque.
✓ Il faut que j'aille à la banque. — I have to go to the bank.
Il faut que takes the subjunctive, and aller's subjunctive singular is aille, not the present vais. The nous and vous forms are the trap in the other direction, because allions and alliez are identical to the imperfect.
Expressions with aller
ça va ?
how are you? / is that ok?
on y va
let's go
aller chercher
to go and get, to pick up
s'en aller
to leave, to go away
aller mieux
to feel better
ça te va bien
that suits you
Frequently asked questions
Is aller a regular -er verb?
No, despite the ending. Aller is the only -er verb in the third group, and it draws on three unrelated stems: v- (je vais), all- (nous allons) and ir- (j'irai). Nothing about the infinitive predicts vais or irai, so this verb has to be memorised outright.
Does aller take avoir or être?
Être. The passé composé is je suis allé(e), and the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: il est allé, elle est allée, ils sont allés, elles sont allées. Learners often reach for j'ai allé by analogy with j'ai mangé, but aller is squarely on the être list.
How do you form the futur proche with aller?
Conjugate aller in the present and add an infinitive: je vais manger, tu vas comprendre, nous allons partir. It describes something close at hand or already decided, and in conversation it is more common than the simple future. Only aller changes; the second verb stays in the infinitive.
Why is it vas-y and not va-y?
The tu imperative of aller is va, with no -s. But before the pronouns y and en, French adds an -s back to keep the two words linked in speech: vas-y, manges-en. The same rule applies to regular -er verbs, which is why you say parles-en but parle plus fort.
What is the difference between aller and partir?
Aller points at a destination and usually needs one: je vais à Paris. Partir focuses on the act of leaving and often names the point of departure instead: je pars de Paris, je pars demain. If you want to say you are leaving without saying where to, use partir or s'en aller.