Notes le premier mars Le verbe ALLER

ALLER (to go) je vaisnous allons tu vasvous allez il/elle/on vails/elles vont Où est-ce que tu vas? Where are you going? Je vais à la plage. I’m going to the beach.

ALLER is an irregular verb. Only the nous and vous forms resemble the infinitive. Allez-vous à la maison? Are you going home? Non, nous allons au centre commercial. No, we’re going to the mall.

ALLER can be used to form a future tense to express what is going to happen. It’s called le futur proche (immediate future). It is formed by using the infinitive of a verb after the conjugated form of ALLER. Où est-ce que les élèves vont déjeuner? Where are the students going to eat lunch? Ils vont déjeuner à la cantine. They’re going to eat lunch in the cafeteria. Je vais étudier chez mon ami ce soir. I’m going to study at my friend’s house this evening.

La préposition à

The preposition à contracts with the definite articles le and les. There is no contraction with la or l’. à + le = auà + les = aux Tu vas au café. You go/you’re going to the café. Le prof va parler aux étudiants. The teacher is going to speak to the students. Ils vont à la maison. They go/they’re going to the house. Nous allons aller à l’école. We’re going to go to (the) school.

The preposition à has various meanings. Most commonly it means to, at, or in. Je vais à l’épicerie. I’m going to the grocery store. Nous sommes au magasin. We’re at the store. J’habite à Paris. I live in Paris.

In general, à means at or in. Use dans to mean inside. With places, learn the preposition that accompanies them. Tu manges à la maison?Tu manges dans la maison? You’re eating at home?You’re eating inside the house?