Learn how to say "to go"
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| Salut, je m'appelle Ingrid. Hi everybody! I’m Ingrid. |
| Welcome to FrenchPod101.com’s “Le français en 3 minutes”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn French. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to use French adjectives easily. |
| In this lesson we will start a series of lessons dedicated to the most common French verbs, the ones you will certainly hear all the time! |
| The first verb in our series will be aller, which means "to go". We will use this word along with many different destinations. |
| You will see that in French you have to use an appropriate linking word to connect aller to your destination. |
| So imagine someone asks you Où vas-tu pour les vacances? That means "Where are you going for your holidays?" in an informal form. |
| So if you are going to a ski resort for example you will say in French Je vais à la montagne. [slowly] Je vais a la montagne. |
| So let’s break down this answer: |
| First we had: |
| Je vais which is "I am going to..." |
| It is the 1st person form of the verb aller, "to go" in present indicative tense. |
| After it was à la which is the connection between the verb and your destination, so it’s like "to" in English. |
| Finally we had montagne which is a noun that means mountain. |
| So now, let’s have an explanation of these connecting words between Je vais "I go" and your destination. |
| If your destination is singular feminine, as is the case with la montagne, then you have to use à la after Je vais |
| All together it is Je vais à la montagne, literally "I’m going to the mountain." |
| But, if you are going to a singular masculine destination, this time you will to say Je vais + au, as in Je vais au Mont Saint-Michel that means I am going to Mont Saint-Michel, |
| And if you are going to a plural destination, whether feminine or masculine, you will also use Je vais aux but with an “x” at the end of aux if you write it! You don’t hear this “x” when speaking: Je vais aux Caraïbes "I’m going to the Caribbean islands." |
| Another very important thing, if your destination name starts with a vowel, such as aéroport, which means "airport" you will only say an L sound after Je vais, just as in Je vais a l’aéroport. |
| Now it’s time for Ingrid’s tips. |
| In French, we often say On va which is difficult to translate in English, and depends on the context. |
| For example, if someone asks you and your friend "Where are you going now?" You can say On va à la piscine which means "We are going to the swimming pool". In this case On is equal to "We" |
| But you can also say On va à la piscine? With an interrogative tone and in this case it is like an invitation "What about going to the swimming pool?" |
| So, in this lesson, we learned how to use the verb aller and to use correct link words with it to talk about your destination. |
| Next time we’ll learn another very useful verb, faire. |
| Do you know what this verb means? I’ll be waiting for you in the next Le français en 3 minutes. |
| A bientôt! |
Comments
HideWhere did you go for holidays?
Bonjour Milenko,
You'll find less English in the more advanced lessons. This is a lesson for very beginners, hence why there's quite a bit of English. What would be the point of only speaking/writing French if the students can't understand a thing? All our lessons are catered to their target audience.
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Utilizan demasiado ingles para explicar deberia haber mas frances
Bonjour Chaiwat,
You have to say "dans" instead of "à" ==>je vais dans un grand magasin
But you are right, when referring to an unspecific place, you have to use "un/une" instead of "le la les".
A bientôt !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Excuse me
Rather than expressing "I go to the" which it is specific place, if I want to go to an unspecific place, can I use "à un/une"? For example, "Je vais à un grand magasin" which mean, I go to a department store.
Bonjour Clayton !
Merci pour votre commentaire !
Mais il faut dire "je vais visiter ....(name of the state) pour voir mes amis"
Par exemple : Je vais visiter le Texas pour voir mes amis
A bientôt !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Je vais à l'intérieur de l'état pour visiter mes amis.