Master Conjugation of the French Verb Aller

The French irregular verb aller (to go) is one of the most frequently used of all French verbs. Pronunciation Be very careful about the pronunciation of this verb. In more formal French, there are many liaisons in the spoken  conjugation, such as: Nous allons is pronounced  Nous Z-allons.Vous allez is pronounced Vous Z-allez. One common mistake that beginners make is  mistakenly saying,  Je va  instead of  Je vais.  To master the use of  aller as a French person would, both in terms of pronunciation and speed, try training  with audio recordings. Compound Tenses Some verbs also use  the auxiliary verb à ªtre to form their passà ©-composà ©Ã‚  (past compound) and other compound tenses. Thats the case with aller,  and it doesnt translate literally in English. Je suis allà ©(e)  Ã‚  I went, I did go, I have gone This is something quite difficult to master for English speakers, so make sure you study this thoroughly. Agreement Why do we write allà ©, allà ©e, allà ©s or allà ©es? The answer: Because it takes à ªtre as an auxiliary verb, the past participle allà © agrees with the subject, just as an adjective would. Anne est allà ©e.  (Anne is a girl; add an e for the feminine.)Pierre et Paul sont allà ©s.  (Masculine plural; add an s to the main verb.)Anne et Marie sont allà ©es. (Feminine, so add an e; plural, so add an s.) Note that any extra E or  S will be silent, therefore allà © is always pronounced the same, as for aller and allez. Conjugated in the  Indicative Mood Present/Prsent Present Perfect/Pass compos je vais je suis all(e) tu vas tu es all(e) il va il est all nous allons nous sommes all(e) vous allez vous tes all(e/s) ils vont ils sont alls Imperfect/Imparfait Pluperfect/Plus-que-parfait jallais jtais all(e) tu allais tu tais all il allait il tait all nous allions nous tions all(e)s vous alliez vous tiez all(e/s) ils allaient ils taient all(e)s Future/Futur Future Perfect/Futur antrieur jirai je serai all(e) tu iras tu seras all il ira il sera all nous irons nous serons all(e) vous irez vous serez all(e/s) ils iront ils seront alls Simple Past/Pass simple Past Anterior/Pass antrieur jallai je fus all(e) tu allas tu fus all il alla il fut all nous allmes nous fmes all(e) vous alltes vous ftes all(e/s) ils allrent ils furent allsls furent alls Present Cond./Cond. Prsent Past Cond./Cond. Pass jirais je serais all(e) tu irais tu serais all il irait il serait all nous irions nous serions alls vous iriez vous seriez all(e/s) ils iraient ils seraient alls Conjugated in the  Subjunctive Mood Present Subjunctive/Subjonctif Prsent Past Subjunctive/Subjonctif Pass que jaille que je sois all(e) que tu ailles que tu sois all(e) quil aille quil soit all que nous allions que nous soyons all(e) que vous alliez que vous soyez all(e/s) quils aillent quils soient alls Subj. Imperfect/Subj. Imparfait Subj. Pluperfect/Subj. Plus-que-parfait que jallasse que je fusse all(e) que tu allasses que tu fusses all(e) quil allt quil ft all que nous allassions que nous fussions all(e) que vous allassiez que vous fussiez all(e/s) quils allassent quils fussent alls Pronunciation Tips The words jaille, tu ailles, il aille, and ils aillent are all pronounced like eye in English.   Jaille j eyeTu ailles tu eyeIl aille il eyeIls aillent ils Z-eye Note that nous allions and vous alliez keep their al  sound. Conjugated in the  Imperative Mood   Present Imperative/Impratif Prsent Past Imperative/ Impratif Pass (tu) va (tu) sois all(e) (tu) va (nous) soyons all(e)s (vous) allez (vous) soyez all(e/s) Infinitive Mood Present Infinitive/Infinitif Prsent Past Infinitive/ Infinitif Pass aller aller Participle Mood Present Participle/Participe Prsent Past Participle/Participe Pass Imperfect Participle/Participe P.C. allant ayant / tant all/e/s Etant all/e/s Idiomatic Expressions Aller  is used with many expressions. Here are some examples: Jy vais.  Ã‚  Im going.Allons-y.   Lets go.On y va ?  Ã‚  Shall we go?Aller en voiture  Ã‚  To go by carÇa va ?  Comment allez-vous  ? Comment vas-tu ?  Ã‚  How are you?Sen aller  Ã‚  to go awayAller chercher  Ã‚  to go get, to get, to fetch Near Future Tense When we talk about an event that is very close in time, or almost certain to happen, we use the futur  proche (near future)  tense, as in these examples:   Dans deux semaines, je vais rentrer chez moi.   In two weeks Ill go home. (close in time)Je suis enceinte. Dans six mois, je vais avoir un bà ©bà ©.   Im pregnant. Ill have a baby in six months. (its almost certain). How to Memorize Conjugations Concentrate on the most useful tenses (prà ©sent, imparfait, passà © composà ©), get used to using them in context. Then once youve mastered them, move on to the rest. As with any new language, practice makes perfect. There are many liaisons, elisions, and modern glidings used with French verbs, and the written form may mislead you into using the wrong pronunciation. If you dont have a study partner to practice with, an audio guide is the next best thing. Youll learn how to conjugate verbs properly and pronounce them correctly.​