By the end of this lesson you'll be able to talk about your plans: what you're going to do tomorrow, this weekend and next week.
Going to do something
English has an easy way to talk about plans: "I'm going to visit Paris". French does exactly the same thing. Take the present of aller, which you learned in the lesson on faire and aller, and add a verb in the infinitive. That's the near future.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| je vais + infinitive | zhuh VEH | I'm going to… |
| tu vas + infinitive | tew VAH | you're going to… (informal) |
| il va / elle va + infinitive | eel VAH / el VAH | he's / she's going to… |
| on va + infinitive | ohn VAH | we're going to… (casual) |
| nous allons + infinitive | noo-zah-LOHN | we're going to… |
| vous allez + infinitive | voo-zah-LAY | you're going to… (formal or plural) |
| ils vont / elles vont + infinitive | eel VOHN / el VOHN | they're going to… |
Only aller changes to match the subject. The second verb stays in its infinitive form, the one ending in -er, -ir or -re, however many people are involved.
Je vais visiter Bordeaux.
I'm going to visit Bordeaux.
Elle va arriver bientôt.
She's going to arrive soon.
Nous allons faire la cuisine.
We're going to do the cooking.
Ils vont chercher Marc.
They're going to look for Marc.
Aller now has two jobs. On its own, with a place, it means going somewhere: Je vais à Lille. With an infinitive, it talks about the future: Je vais travailler. Both can appear in one sentence: Je vais aller à Lille (I'm going to go to Lille).
When is it happening?
The near future is usually joined by a word that says when. These are the most useful, and they often go at the beginning or end of the sentence.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| demain | duh-MAN | tomorrow |
| ce soir | suh SWAHR | this evening, tonight |
| ce week-end | suh wee-KEND | this weekend |
| bientôt | byan-TOH | soon |
| lundi prochain | luhn-dee proh-SHAN | next Monday |
| la semaine prochaine | lah suh-men proh-SHEN | next week |
You can add any day or date from the lesson on days, months and dates: vendredi, en août, le 3 mai.
Demain, je vais travailler à Rennes.
Tomorrow I'm going to work in Rennes.
On va faire les courses ce soir.
We're going to do the shopping tonight.
Prochain is an adjective, and it matches its noun: lundi prochain, but la semaine prochaine.
You can also use the near future to say what's about to happen soon, or to talk about plans further ahead. It's very common in everyday speech. French has another future tense, which you'll meet later on, but this one will carry you a long way.
Making it negative
Put ne…pas around aller, and leave the infinitive outside it, at the end.
Je ne vais pas regarder le match.
I'm not going to watch the match.
Elles ne vont pas travailler lundi.
They're not going to work on Monday.
The ne shortens to n' before allons and allez: Nous n'allons pas visiter Nice.
Asking about plans
To ask what someone is going to do, you can use the phrase below. For a yes/no question, simply raise your voice at the end, as usual: Tu vas travailler demain ?
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| visiter | vee-zee-TAY | to visit (a place) |
| Qu'est-ce que tu vas faire ? | kess-kuh tew vah FEHR | What are you going to do? |
Putting it together
Here are two friends talking about the weekend.
- Qu'est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end ? (What are you going to do this weekend?)
- Samedi, je vais visiter Dijon. (On Saturday, I'm going to visit Dijon.)
- Et dimanche ? (And Sunday?)
- Dimanche, je ne vais pas travailler. Je vais faire la cuisine ! (On Sunday, I'm not going to work. I'm going to cook!)
Notice that samedi and dimanche have no le, because they mean this coming Saturday and Sunday, and not every week.
What's next
Next, the lesson on pouvoir, vouloir and devoir uses the same pattern, with an infinitive after the first verb, to say what you can, want and have to do. Then the lesson on writing a short message puts your plans into a message to a friend.