French - lesson 4: The verb aller (to go) and some prepositions


The verb aller (to go) interacts with the other elements of the phrase the same way as in English, that is, it can be intransitive or indirect transitive. The intransitive verb needs no object. E.g. Je vais en voiture. (I go by car.). The indirect transitive verb needs object and it is linked to the verb by a preposition. E.g. Je vais au centre commercial. (I go to the mall.).

Aller is the only irregular verb in the French language ending in -er. There is no rule for it, so, it is necessary to memorize the conjugation, see:


Aller (To go)
Je
vais
Tu
vas
Il
va
Elle
va
On
va
Nous
allons
Vous
allez
Ils
vont
Elles
vont


E.g.
Jean va au bureau tous les jours. (Jean goes to the office every day.)
Jean ne va pas au bureau tous les jours. (Jean doesn’t go to the office every day.)
Jean va au bureau tous les jours? (Does Jean go to the office every day.?) –
Informal interrogative sentence, not accepted in writing, the other types of interrogative sentences are going to be explained in the next lesson.

Grammaire (Grammar)

In general, the construction of sentences with the verb aller, in cases that someone goes somewhere, it’s necessary to use the preposition à + la, l ', un, une, des, mon etc (articles def., Indef. and possessive pronouns) or the contractions au (à + le) and aux (à + les). The only case that different prepositions are needed is when someone goes to a country or a city and this case will be explained in some lessons.

Rules

auis used before masculine singular nouns beginning by a consonant.

E.g.
Je vais au supermarché. (I go to the supermarket.)
Note: When "à un" or "à mon" are used, it doesn’t matter if the masculine singular noun starts with a vowel, mute "h" or consonant.
E.g.
Je vais à un endroit calme. (I go to a calm place.)
Je vais à mon appartement maintenant. (I go to my apartment now.)

à la - is used before feminine singular nouns beginning by a consonant.

E.g.
Marie va à la boulangerie tous les matins. (Marie goes to the bakery every morning.)
Note: When "à une" or "à ma" are used, it doesn’t matter if the masculine singular noun starts with a vowel, mute "h" or consonant.
E.g.
Nous allons à une fête ce soir. (We go to a party this evening.)
Je vais à ma place préférée. (I go to my favorite square.)

à l’ - is used before feminine and masculine singular nouns beginning by a vowel or a mute “h”.

E.g.
Jean va à l’école(fem.) tous les jours. (Jean goes to school every day.)
Margot va à l’hôtel(masc.) pour visiter une amie. (Margot goes to the hotel to visit a friend.)

aux is used before feminine and masculine plural nouns beginning by a consonant, vowel or a mute “h”, it means, it’s used before all the plural nouns.

E.g.
Je vais aux expositions au Louvre. (I go to the expositions at Louvre.)
Nous allons aux fêtes du quartier. (We go to the parties of the neighborhood.)
  
To describe the way someone goes somewhere, "à" is used before means of transportation in which the passengers are outside and on the vehicle or on foot, while "en" is used before means of transportation in which the passengers are inside the vehicle.
See the examples:

à pied (on foot)
à vélo, à bicyclete, à moto (by bicycle (the first two nouns mean by bicycle), by motorcycle – in France it is common to hear French people saying in everyday life "en vélo, en moto", but it is not grammatically adequate.)
à cheval (by horse).
E.g. Je vais au cinéma à pied/à vélo/ à moto. (I go to the movies on foot/by bike/by motorcycle.

en voiture (by car)
en camion (by truck/lorry)
en bus (by bus – public transportation used inside the cities.)
en car (by bus -  public transportation used to travel from a city to another.)
en avion (by plane)
en bateau (by boat)
en navire (de ship)
E.g. Nous allons au match de football en avion/bateau/navire. (We go to the soccer/football match by plane/boat/ship.)

Vocabulaire (Vocabulary)

To contextualize what we have studied so far in lesson 4, let’s have a look at some important words.

Lieux (Places): ici (here), là-bas (there); rue (street); avenue (street); route (road, route); restaurant (restaurant); bar (bar); centre commercial (mall); magazin (store); supermarché (supermarket); boulangerie (bakery); pharmacie (drugstore); boucherie (butcher shop, butchery); salle de sport (gym); pâté de maisons (block).

Numéros de 1 a 20 (números de 1 a 20): 1 un, 2 deux, 3 trois, 4 quatre, 5 cinq, 6 six, 7 sept, 8 huit, 9 neuf, 10 dix, 11 onze, 12 douze, 13 treize, 14 quatorze, 15 quinze, 16 seize, 17 dix-sept, 18 dix-huit, 19 dix-neuf, 20 vingt.

Les jours de la semaine (Days of the week): lundi (Monday); mardi (Tuesday); mercredi (Wednesday); jeudi (Thursday); vendredi (Friday); samedi (Saturday); dimanche (Sunday); weekend (weekend).

Éléments importants de la grammaire (Important elements of grammar): Comment (How); où (where); aussi (too); seulement (only Pourquoi (why) parce que (because); prochain(masc.), prochaine (fem.) (next).

Read the text below (Leia o texto abaixo):



Jean: Salut!
Margot: Salut!
Jean: Comment tu t’appelles?
Margot: Je m’appelle Margot. Comment tu t’appelles?
Jean: Je m’appelle Jean.
Jean: Enchanté. (Nice to meet you)
Margot: Enchantée. (Nice to meet you)
Jean: Tu étudies?
Margot: Oui, J’étudies le Droit, et toi? (Droit = Law)
Jean: C’est sympa, J'étudie Literature. 
Jean: Tu étudies où?
Margot: J’étudie à l’université Fantastique et toi ?
Jean: J’étudie là-bas aussi. C’est super!!
Jean: Tu vas à l’université tous les jours?
Margot: Non, je vais à l’université lundi, jeudi et vendredi.
Jean: Comment tu vas à l’université?
Margot: Lundi et vendredi je vais avec mon frère en voiture.
Margot: Jeudi, je vais à pied, parce que mon frère travaille.
Jean: Tu veux aller à l’université avec moi jeudi prochain?
Margot: Ouais, pourquoi pas? C’est une bonne idée.
Jean: Super, on se voit la semaine prochaine.
Margot: Salut, à la semaine prochaine.

Glossaire (Glossary): 
Salut (Hi or bye – informal context)
C’est sympa (It’s nice)
C’est super (It’s awesome)
Ouais (Yeah)
On se voit la semaine prochaine. (We see each other next week.)
À la semaine prochaine. (see you next week.)

Congratulations, lesson finished. Now click on the link below to practice what you've learnt:


Reference

DELAUNAY, B., LAURENT, N. Bescherelle. Paris: Hatier, 2012

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