aller à
The English phrase "go to" is translated into French as aller à.
If you wish to express the idea of going to visit someone in a formal context, you should use rendre visite à. Additionally, aller chez is used when the phrase is followed by a person's name or a pronoun.
How does it change in a sentence?
When the destination is a masculine noun starting with a consonant, aller à contracts to aller au. If the destination is a feminine noun, use aller à la. For a plural destination, aller à contracts to aller aux.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often forget that aller à must contract with the definite articles le and les to form au and aux when referring to specific places.
Did you know?
- The preposition à actually carries the DNA of two different Latin words: ad, meaning 'to', and ab, meaning 'from'. Over centuries of use, these two opposing directions merged into a single French word.
- While aller means 'to go', the French use the verb rendre meaning 'to give back' or 'to render' when saying they go to visit a person with rendre visite à.
- In some contexts, aller can be used as an adjective to describe if a piece of clothing 'goes' or fits well with another, similar to the English 'it goes with'.
Examples in context
- Je veux aller à Tokyo.I want to go to Tokyo.Tatoeba #6647 by Cocorico, translation #378556 by CN
- Je veux aller à Paris.I want to go to Paris.Tatoeba #7960202 by Micsmithel, translation #4872600 by Gulo_Luscus
- Je veux aller à Kyoto.I want to go to Kyoto.Tatoeba #8703395 by Julien_PDC, translation #378543 by saeb
- Je vais à Paris demain.I am going to Paris tomorrow.
- Nous allons à l'école ensemble.We are going to school together.
- Il va à la banque pour retirer de l'argent.He is going to the bank to withdraw money.
- Je vais rendre visite à mes grands-parents ce week-end.I am going to visit my grandparents this weekend.
- Je vais chez Mathilde ce soir.I'm going to Mathilde's place tonight.
- On va chez le médecin cet après-midi.We're going to the doctor this afternoon.
- On se rend à la plage pour profiter du soleil.We're going to the beach to enjoy the sun.
- Je me rends à la boulangerie pour acheter du pain.I'm going to the bakery to buy bread.
- Je vais me diriger vers le cinéma pour voir un film.I'm going to head to the cinema to watch a movie.
- On se dirige vers le parc pour pique-niquer.We're heading to the park for a picnic.
- 348 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Hugo are deciding their afternoon plans.
- EmmaOù veux-tu aller ?Where do you want to go?
- HugoJe vais aller à la boulangerie.I am going to go to the bakery.
- EmmaEst-ce que je peux venir avec toi ?Can I come with you?
- HugoOui, allons-y ensemble.Yes, let's go together.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries aller, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
