Aller, À and De, and Arriver

Aller

Aller is a common French verb that means "to go." The below table depicts how you conjugate aller. Notice that the columns on the left show first, second, and third person singular, and the columns on the right show first, second, and third person plural. Familiarize yourself with the words below, and practice your pronunciation by repeating each aloud. Click each word to hear the pronunciation.

Conjugation of Aller
Singular		Plural
French	English	French	English
Je vais	I go	Nous allons	We go
Tu vas	You go	Vous allez	You all go
Il va Elle va On va	He goes She goes One goes/we go	Ils vont Elles vont	They go (m)(m/f) They go (f)

 

À + le/la/les

Often, aller is followed by the preposition, à. This preposition means to, at, or in. In this interactivity, you will learn grammar rules that will help you form sentences about going to places, at places, or in places. Click the player to begin.

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Take a moment to review the table below, which contains the rules for à plus le, la, and les.

Rules for à + le/la/les
À + Subject Pronoun	Contraction or No Contraction	Example in French	Example in English
à + la	à la	Il va à la plage.	He goes to the beach.
à + l’	à l’	Elle va à l’hôtel.	She goes to the hotel.
à + le	au	Nous allons au restaurant.	We go to the restaurant.
à + les	aux	Ils vont aux parcs.	They go to the parks.

De + le/la/les

Arriver is a regular -er verb that is normally followed by de. It means from or of. In English, you may say, "He arrives from the train station." De forms contractions in a similar way as à when it comes before a noun that begins with le, la, or les. Take a moment to examine the table below, which contains the rules for de plus le, la, and les.

Rules for de + le/la/les
De + Subject Pronoun	Contraction or No Contraction	Example in French	Example in English
de + la	de la	Il arrive de la piscine.	He arrives from the pool.
de+ l’	de l’	Elle arrive de l’hôtel.	She arrives from the hotel.
de + le	du	Nous arrivons du café.	We arrive from the cafe.
de + les	des	Ils arrivent des magasins.	They arrive from the stores.

 

Aller, À and De, and Arriver Review

Now that you have learned a little about aller, à and de, and arriver, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Click the player to get started.