Aller: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Aller means “to go”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for aller, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with aller, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je vais à Paris demain tous les jours.” — “I go to Paris tomorrow every day.”
- “Tu vas au marché ce matin tous les jours.” — “You go to the market this morning every day.”
- “Je suis allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have gone to school every day this week.”
- “Il allait à Paris demain autrefois.” — “He used to go to Paris tomorrow in the past.”
- “Nous irons au marché ce matin demain.” — “We will go to the market this morning tomorrow.”
- “Tu es allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have gone to school every day this week.”
- “J'irais à Paris demain un jour.” — “I would go to Paris tomorrow one day.”
- “Il est important que il aille au marché ce matin.” — “It is important that he go to the market this morning.”
- “Nous étions allé à l'école tous les jours avant la fête.” — “We had gone to school every day before the party.”
- “Il ira à Paris demain demain.” — “He will go to Paris tomorrow tomorrow.”
- “Ils vont au marché ce matin tous les jours.” — “They go to the market this morning every day.”
- “Va à l'école tous les jours !” — “Go to school every day!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about to Paris tomorrow. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how aller changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of aller below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je vais à Paris demain tous les jours.” — “I go to Paris tomorrow every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “J'irai au marché ce matin demain.” — “I will go to the market this morning tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “Je suis allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have gone to school every day this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “J'irais à Paris demain un jour.” — “I would go to Paris tomorrow one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Aller in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of aller that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, aller describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is vais: “Je vais à Paris demain tous les jours.” — “I go to Paris tomorrow every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, aller describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is allait: “Il allait au marché ce matin autrefois.” — “He used to go to the market this morning in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, aller reports one finished action, built with être plus the participle allé. The je form is suis allé: “Je suis allé à l'école tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have gone to school every day this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, aller talks about what will happen. The nous form is irons: “Nous irons à Paris demain demain.” — “We will go to Paris tomorrow tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, aller talks about what would happen. The tu form is irais: “Tu irais au marché ce matin un jour.” — “You would go to the market this morning one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, aller appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is aille, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que j'aille à l'école tous les jours.” — “It is important that I go to school every day.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je aller à Paris demain.”
✓ Right: “Je vais à Paris demain.”
The infinitive aller never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form vais.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu vais à Paris demain.”
✓ Right: “Tu vas à Paris demain.”
vais is the je form. With tu you need vas. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je vais à Paris demain hier.”
✓ Right: “Je suis allé à Paris demain hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé suis allé, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu vas au marché ce matin.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu ailles au marché ce matin.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: ailles, not the indicative vas.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je allé à Paris demain.”
✓ Right: “Je suis allé à Paris demain.”
The passé composé of aller needs the auxiliary être plus the participle allé: the full je form is suis allé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on aller. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of aller in the Present indicative?
- A) allons
- B) vais
- C) vas
- D) va
What is the tu form of aller in the Present indicative?
- A) va
- B) allons
- C) vas
- D) vais
What is the il/elle form of aller in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) es allé
- B) sommes allé
- C) est allé
- D) suis allé
What is the nous form of aller in the Imperfect?
- A) allait
- B) alliez
- C) allions
- D) allais
What is the tu form of aller in the Future?
- A) irons
- B) iras
- C) irai
- D) ira
What is the je form of aller in the Conditional?
- A) irais
- B) irait
- C) irions
- D) iriez
What is the il/elle form of aller in the Present subjunctive?
- A) alliez
- B) aille
- C) ailles
- D) allions
What is the je form of aller in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étais allé
- B) était allé
- C) étions allé
- D) étiez allé
What is the gerund of aller?
- A) en pouvant
- B) en allant
- C) en faisant
- D) en disant
What does aller mean in English?
- A) to do, to make
- B) to say
- C) to be able to, can
- D) to go
Answer key
- B) vais — the je form of aller in the Present indicative is vais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) vas — the tu form of aller in the Present indicative is vas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) est allé — the il/elle form of aller in the Present perfect (passé composé) is est allé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) allions — the nous form of aller in the Imperfect is allions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) iras — the tu form of aller in the Future is iras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) irais — the je form of aller in the Conditional is irais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) aille — the il/elle form of aller in the Present subjunctive is aille. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) étais allé — the je form of aller in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étais allé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en allant — the gerund of aller is en allant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to go — aller means “to go” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does aller mean in English?
aller means “to go”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is aller regular or irregular?
aller is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is allant and the past participle is allé.
How do I practise aller every day?
Say one sentence with aller in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je vais à Paris demain tous les jours.”, “Je suis allé à Paris demain cette semaine.” and “J'irai à Paris demain demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for aller, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of aller — every tense of aller in one place.
- Aller in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Aller examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Faire conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Dire conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Pouvoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise aller with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise aller with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise aller with the interactive tool.