je suis allé à l'école
The English phrase "I went to school" is translated into French as je suis allé à l'école.
This sentence is used to say that someone traveled to a place of education.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the passé composé tense to express a completed action in the past. If the speaker is female, an extra e is added to the past participle allé to form je suis allée à l'école. The phrase changes to nous sommes allés à l'école when the subject is "we".
Did you know?
- The word école and the English word 'school' both stem from the Greek 'skholē', which originally meant 'leisure' or 'free time'.
- While English uses 'went' from 'go', the French use the verb 'être' (to be) as the auxiliary for aller. This means that grammatically, you are saying 'I am gone to school' rather than 'I have gone'.
- The word école refers to any general school, but for a primary school specifically, French speakers often use the term l'école primaire. For a high school, they use the completely different word lycée.
Examples in context
- Je suis allé à l'école.I went to school.This example shows the basic way to say the phrase.Tatoeba #4428443 by sacredceltic, translation #3797008 by CM
- Je suis allé à l'école, hier.I went to school yesterday.This example shows how to add a time reference to the phrase.Tatoeba #6482 by siggg, translation #257759 by CK
- Je suis allé à l'école avec elle.I went to school with her.This example shows how to include a companion in the phrase.Tatoeba #13377942 by lbdx, translation #2427876 by Hybrid
- Lors de ma jeunesse, je suis allé(e) à l'école tous les jours.During my youth, I went to school every day.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Manon are talking about their morning routines.
- NathanJe suis allé à l'école ce matin.I went to school this morning.
- ManonC'était une bonne journée ?Was it a good day?
- NathanOui, j'ai beaucoup appris.Yes, I learned a lot.
- ManonC'est super, Nathan.That's great, Nathan.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries je, suis, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
