Aller + Near Future (futur proche)

Level: A1. French has an easy, everyday way to talk about the future. You take the verb aller (to go) in the present, then add another verb in its base form. It works almost exactly like English going to: je vais manger — I am going to eat.

The rule

The futur proche (near future) is built from two pieces: aller conjugated in the present + an infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb, such as manger to eat, partir to leave, voir to see).

The first verb, aller, carries all the grammar — it changes for the subject. The second verb, the infinitive, never changes. So je vais partir (I am going to leave), nous allons partir (we are going to leave) and ils vont partir (they are going to leave) all keep partir exactly the same.

Despite its name, the futur proche is not only for things a minute away. In everyday spoken French it covers most future plans, from je vais manger dans dix minutes (I am going to eat in ten minutes) to l’année prochaine, je vais apprendre l’espagnol (next year I am going to learn Spanish).

The forms of aller (present)

How to say it

French spelling hides a lot of sounds. For aller in the futur proche:

• vais, vas, va rhyme with English vay / vah / vah — the final s is silent. vais is roughly “vay”; vas and va are both “vah”.
• vont ends in a nasal vowel: say “voh(n)” without touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth for the n; the t is silent.
• allons and allez are “a-loh(n)” and “a-lay”; the -ons ending is nasal, the -ez ending sounds like “ay”.
• Liaison: after nous and vous the final s links onto a vowel and sounds like z: nous allons is said “noo-za-loh(n)”, vous allez is “voo-za-lay”. Press “Listen” on each example to hear it.

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je vais mange → ✅ Je vais manger. The second verb must stay in the infinitive (manger), not a conjugated form (mange).
• ❌ Je vas → ✅ Je vais. With je the form is vais; vas goes with tu.
• ❌ Je vais ne pas partir → ✅ Je ne vais pas partir. The ne … pas wraps around aller, the conjugated verb, not the infinitive.
• ❌ Je vais à manger → ✅ Je vais manger. There is no preposition before the infinitive. (You only see à when aller means to physically go: je vais à Paris, I am going to Paris.)
• ❌ Nous allons mangeons → ✅ Nous allons manger. Only one verb is conjugated (allons); the other stays infinitive.

A short conversation

— Léa: Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end ? — What are you going to do this weekend? — Hugo: Je vais visiter ma grand-mère. Et toi ? — I am going to visit my grandmother. And you? — Léa: On va aller à la plage, s’il fait beau. — We are going to go to the beach, if the weather is nice.

Every future plan here uses aller + an infinitive.

Usage notes

• Spoken French leans on it. In conversation the futur proche is more common than the formal futur simple for near and even fairly distant plans.
• Aller to go, and aller to be going to. Je vais au marché uses aller as a real verb of movement (go to the market); je vais acheter du pain uses it as the future helper (going to buy bread). Same word, two jobs.
• Time words help. Pair it with bientôt (soon), ce soir (tonight), demain (tomorrow), la semaine prochaine (next week) to pin down when.
• Questions. Just add intonation or est-ce que: Tu vas venir ? or Est-ce que tu vas venir ? — Are you going to come?

Compared with the futur simple and venir de

Two neighbours are worth knowing. The futur simple (je mangerai, I will eat) is a single-word future used in writing and for more distant or formal statements; the futur proche is its everyday spoken cousin. Going the other way, venir de + infinitive is the recent past — je viens de manger means I have just eaten — the mirror image of je vais manger. You will meet both as separate lessons; for now, keep practising aller + infinitive and browse the French grammar section for what comes next. This lesson assumes you know your French subject pronouns.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Revise the pronouns this builds on: French Subject Pronouns
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