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Lesson 38

Talking About the Near Future: Aller + Infinitive

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Bonjour ! Welcome to the first lesson in our module on "Future Plans and Intentions."

In our last lesson on the pronoun en, we saw how to place it in sentences with two verbs, like Je vais en acheter (I am going to buy some). You might have noticed that this sentence structure, je vais acheter, already talks about the future! Today, we're going to formalize that knowledge.

Your learning outcome is to express the near future using aller + infinitive. This structure, called the futur proche, is one of the most common ways to talk about the future in everyday French conversation. Mastering it is a huge step toward the casual and professional fluency you're aiming for.

1. What is the Futur Proche?

The futur proche (near future) is a way to talk about events that are going to happen soon. It's the direct equivalent of the English "going to" + verb. It's used for:

  • Actions in the immediate future (e.g., in a few minutes, later today).
  • Plans or events that are certain to happen.

To get a quick overview, let's watch the beginning of this video.

The Future Tense in French: futur proche or futur simple?

The video 'The Future Tense in French' from the Learn French With Alexa channel introduces the 'futur proche' and explains its main purpose.

Watch from the beginning until 01:06. Focus on understanding when the 'futur proche' is used and how it translates to English.

As Alexa explains, the futur proche communicates certainty about a future event. Now, let's learn how to build it.

2. The Formula: aller + Infinitive

The great news is that the structure for the futur proche is simple and follows a consistent rule. It's not technically a new verb tense to conjugate, but rather a combination of two verbs you already know.

The formula is: Present Tense of aller (to go) + Infinitive of the main verb

First, you need to be comfortable with the present tense of aller. It's an irregular verb, so it's important to have it memorized.

Le futur proche: An easy guide to “going to” in French

Let's review the conjugation of 'aller' and see how it fits into the 'futur proche' structure. This article from LingoCulture provides a clear and straightforward explanation.

First, review the table under the heading 'How to conjugate aller'. Then, read the short section that follows, which shows how to combine 'aller' with an infinitive, down to the example 'Ils vont rester à l’hôtel.'

So, to form a sentence in the futur proche, you just need to:

  1. Choose your subject (je, tu, nous, etc.).
  2. Conjugate aller to match the subject.
  3. Add the infinitive (the basic, unconjugated form) of the action verb.

Let's see some examples:

  • Je vais parler. (I am going to speak.)
  • Elle va travailler. (She is going to work.)
  • Nous allons manger. (We are going to eat.)

This image provides a great visual summary of the structure.

French Futur Proche Construction
This chart illustrates how to form the 'futur proche' by combining the present tense conjugations of 'aller' with an infinitive verb, such as 'chanter' (to sing).

3. Forming Negative Sentences

What if you want to say you are not going to do something? As you learned in Module 1, French negation typically uses ne...pas.

In the futur proche, the ne...pas surrounds the conjugated verb. In this case, the conjugated verb is aller.

The formula is: ne + aller (conjugated) + pas + infinitive

  • Je ne vais pas parler. (I am not going to speak.)
  • Elle ne va pas travailler. (She is not going to work.)
  • Nous n'allons pas manger. (We are not going to eat.) (Remember ne becomes n' before a vowel sound).

Let's quickly confirm this rule with the same article.

Le futur proche: An easy guide to “going to” in French

The LingoCulture article also clearly explains how to form negative sentences.

Read the section titled 'Using le futur proche in the negative form'.

Test your understanding!

Create sentences in the futur proche based on the following prompts.

  1. je / regarder un film (I am going to watch a movie.)
  2. vous / étudier le français (You [formal/plural] are going to study French.)
  3. Turn this sentence negative: Il va acheter du pain. (He is going to buy bread.)
  4. elles / (ne pas) jouer au tennis (They [feminine] are not going to play tennis.)
Show answer
  1. Je vais regarder un film.
  2. Vous allez étudier le français.
  3. Il ne va pas acheter du pain.
  4. Elles ne vont pas jouer au tennis.

Conclusion

Excellent travail ! You can now confidently express plans and intentions in the near future. This is a structure you will hear and use constantly, so practicing it is key to building fluency.

Key Takeaways:

  • The futur proche is used to talk about the near future or certain plans, equivalent to "going to" in English.
  • The affirmative formula is: Subject + aller (present tense) + infinitive.
  • The negative formula is: Subject + ne + aller (present tense) + pas + infinitive.

Next Lesson Preview:
The futur proche is perfect for most everyday conversations about the future. However, there is another future tense in French: the futur simple (simple future). In our next lesson, we will learn how to form the futur simple and, later, when to choose it over the futur proche. À bientôt !