French Expressions With the Verb 'Aller'

The French verb aller, which means "to go," is used in many French idiomatic expressions. Learn how to go fishing, get to the bottom of things, go away and more with this list of expressions with aller.

There's a good reason why so many expressions use aller; it's one of the most common and important verbs in the French language. There are a few basics to keep in mind with aller. First, it's an irregular verb, so it doesn't follow typical conjugation patterns.

You just have to memorize its many forms.

Second, the very common passé composé tense of aller uses the auxiliary verb être. (Je suis allé means I went, I have gone). This means that the past participle in this instance, has to agree with the Je, or the I that's speaking. So If a girl said that, the past participle would have an additional e at the end of the participle to indicate a feminine subject: Je suis allée. 

Another important peculiarity of aller is its use in constructing the near future. Combine the present tense of aller + the infinitive of an action verb to make the near future, or le futur proche. The construction means "to be going to" or "to be going to do something".

Common French Expressing Using 'Aller'

French Expression	English Translation
aller à la pêche	to go fishing
aller à la rencontre de quelqu'un	to go meet someone
aller à pied	to go on foot
aller à quelqu'un	to be becoming, to suit
aller au-devant de quelqu'un	to go meet someone
aller au fond des choses	to get to the bottom of things
aller avec quelque chose	to match; to go with something
aller chercher	to go get; to get; to fetch
aller de pair avec	to go hand in hand with
aller en voiture	to go by car
aller sans dire; ça va sans dire	to go without saying; that goes without saying
Allez-y!	Go ahead!
Allons donc!	Come on then!
Allons-y !	Let's go!
Ça va ? Comment allez-vous ? Comment vas-tu ?	How are you?
On y va ?	Shall we go?
On y va !	Let's go!
s'en aller	to go away