Aller vs Venir

Aller and venir are the two most basic motion verbs in French — and two of the most frequent verbs in the language. They form the spine of how French speakers describe coming and going, and they extend far beyond literal motion: aller drives the futur proche (je vais partir, I'm going to leave), gives you the universal greeting (ça va ?, how's it going?), and forms dozens of idioms; venir drives the passé récent (je viens de partir, I just left), expresses origin (je viens de France, I'm from France), and pairs with de in dozens of useful constructions. You will reach for these two verbs in nearly every conversation in French.

This page covers the conjugations (both verbs are highly irregular), the deictic logic that determines which one to use, the imperatives, the auxiliary choice (both take être in compound tenses), and the high-frequency idioms and periphrases. It is a long page because these are very high-frequency verbs that earn the space.

Aller: motion away from the speaker

Aller means to go — to move toward a destination, typically away from the speaker's current location. It is the most irregular verb in French along with être, avoir, and faire. Almost every tense has its own stem.

Conjugation

Three things to memorize about the conjugation:

1. The present has three stems: vai- (singular), all- (nous, vous), vont (third plural). The first-person je vais looks like it should be je vas, but isn't.
2. The futur and conditionnel use the irregular stem ir-: j'irai, tu iras, il ira, j'irais, tu irais. This ir- stem also turns up in the conditionnel passé (je serais allé) only as the participe.
3. The subjonctif has another stem aill- / all-: que j'aille, que tu ailles, qu'il aille, que nous allions, que vous alliez, qu'ils aillent. The nous and vous forms use the regular all- stem; the rest use aill-.

The auxiliary in compound tenses is être (it is one of the canonical maison d'être verbs), and the past participle is allé, which agrees with the subject: elle est allée, ils sont allés, elles sont allées.

Aller + à + place / chez + person

The basic construction is aller à + a place name, or aller chez + a person.

The contractions are obligatory: à + le = au, à + les = aux. Je vais au cinéma, je vais aux États-Unis, je vais au marché.

For countries: feminine country names take en (je vais en France, en Italie, en Espagne); masculine and plural take au/aux (au Canada, aux Pays-Bas); cities take à (à Paris, à Rome).

Aller + infinitive: the futur proche

This is one of the highest-impact uses of aller. Conjugated aller + bare infinitive = to be going to + verb — the futur proche / near future.

The futur proche is the default future tense in casual conversation. The futur simple (je mangerai) is also used, but in spoken French the aller + infinitive form is far more common. See futur-proche for full coverage of the contrast.

Aller bien / aller mal: state of being

Among the most useful idioms in French: aller + adverb of manner = to be doing well/badly. This is the verb you use to ask after someone's health or general state.

The set phrase ça va is the most common greeting in casual French — both the question (ça va ?) and the answer (ça va) use the same words. The literal meaning is "it's going (well)," and it functions like English how's it going / I'm doing fine.

Aller idioms: voir, chercher

Two especially common patterns:

Aller voir = to go see (visit, watch).

Aller chercher = to go get / pick up.

These are not literally "go to see" or "go to look for" — they are integrated phrasal verbs that translate as English go see and go get / pick up. Learn them as units.

Other aller idioms

• Allons-y ! / On y va ! — Let's go!
• Vas-y ! — Go ahead! / Go on! (sometimes also Go for it!)
• Allez ! — Come on! / Let's go! (cheering, encouragement)
• ça ne va pas, non ? / Ça va pas la tête ? — Are you out of your mind? (informal)
• aller de soi — to be obvious / go without saying (formal): cela va de soi (that goes without saying)
• s'en aller — to leave / be off: je m'en vais (I'm leaving)

Venir: motion toward the speaker

Venir means to come — to move toward where the speaker (or addressee) is. It is also highly irregular, with stem alternations and a unique futur stem.

Conjugation

Things to memorize:

1. Three stems in the present: vien- (singular and third plural — but with extra n in viennent), ven- (nous, vous). Note that the third-plural form is viennent (with double n), not vienent.
2. Futur and conditionnel stem viendr-: je viendrai, tu viendras, il viendra, je viendrais, tu viendrais. The d is inserted euphonically.
3. Subjonctif uses vienn- / ven-: que je vienne, que tu viennes, qu'il vienne, que nous venions, que vous veniez, qu'ils viennent. Same pattern as the present (singular/3pl strong, nous/vous weak).

The participe passé is venu, agreeing with the subject (venue, venus, venues). Auxiliary is être in all standard uses.

Venir as motion toward speaker

The deictic anchor is the speaker's location, or sometimes the addressee's. Note carefully: when you say je viens te voir demain, you are conceiving of the motion toward you — you anchor at the listener's location, and your movement is coming (toward them). This parallels English: I'll come to your house tomorrow (anchor at your location, motion is coming into it). Conversely, je vais à Paris demain anchors at your current location and the motion is going (away from here).

Venir + de + place: origin

Venir de + place = to come from / be from / originate from.

The de + le = du and de + les = des contractions apply: je viens du Canada, des États-Unis. For feminine countries, the bare de: je viens de France, d'Italie.

Venir + de + infinitive: the passé récent

The mirror image of the aller + inf futur proche is venir de + inf, the passé récent — to have just done something.

The construction is conjugated venir + de + infinitive. The auxiliary venir can be in any tense:

• Je viens de manger — I just ate. (present of venir)
• Je venais de manger quand tu m'as appelé — I had just eaten when you called me. (imparfait of venir = "had just")

There is no other way to express had just done X in French — the imparfait of venir + de + inf is the only construction. See passe-recent-venir-de for full coverage.

Venir voir / venir chercher

Like aller voir and aller chercher, venir combines with voir and chercher in idiomatic phrasal patterns.

These are bread-and-butter constructions for arrangements and meetings.

Other venir idioms

• venir au monde — to be born (literally "come into the world"): elle est venue au monde le 14 juillet (she was born on July 14th).
• en venir à
  • inf — to come to / end up: j'en viens à penser que... (I'm coming to think that...).
• en venir aux mains — to come to blows.
• bienvenu(e) ! — Welcome! (built on venir; agrees with the addressee: bienvenue, mademoiselle).

Aller vs venir: the deictic logic

The split between aller and venir mirrors the English split between go and come — but French is slightly more rigid in applying the rule.

The rule: aller describes motion to a destination, away from where you are now. Venir describes motion toward where the speaker (or addressee) is.

There is one common source of confusion for English speakers: calling out to someone "I'm coming!". In English, when someone calls Come for dinner!, you respond I'm coming!. In French, je viens ! works in this context, but the more idiomatic answer is j'arrive ! (I'm arriving).

J'arrive ! signals I'm on my way and will be there shortly. It's the standard response when called.

Compound tenses: both take être

Both aller and venir take être in compound tenses, and both past participles agree with the subject.

This is the canonical maison d'être pattern. The list of être-auxiliary verbs (aller, venir, partir, sortir, arriver, rester, tomber, monter, descendre, retourner, naître, mourir, plus their compounds and all reflexives) is one of the foundational memory tasks of A1-A2 French.

Imperatives

Both verbs have everyday imperatives, used constantly in commands, invitations, and exhortations.

Aller

• tu: va (drops the -s of vas in the imperative — but adds -s before y: vas-y).
• nous: allons
• vous: allez

The added -s in vas-y (and manges-en, etc.) is for euphony — to avoid the awkward hiatus va-y.

Venir

• tu: viens
• nous: venons
• vous: venez

The familiar form viens is very common — viens là, viens voir, viens chez moi.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using aller when the destination is the speaker's location.

When the destination is the speaker's location, the verb is venir, not aller.

Mistake 2: Saying je viens ! when "I'm coming" is the response to being called.

When called for dinner or asked to come help, the standard response is j'arrive !.

Mistake 3: Wrong auxiliary in compound tenses.

Drill the auxiliary until suis allé and suis venu feel automatic.

Mistake 4: Forgetting the -s in vas-y.

The imperative va drops the -s normally, but adds it back before y and en for euphony: vas-y, vas-en.

Mistake 5: Saying je vais à mes parents instead of chez mes parents.

For going to a person's place, always use chez.

Mistake 6: Confusing venir de + inf with venir + inf.

The de makes all the difference. Je viens manger = I'm coming to eat. Je viens de manger = I just ate.

Mistake 7: Using aller à + city with the wrong preposition for countries.

The preposition depends on the type and gender of the destination.

Key takeaways

Aller = go (motion away from speaker, toward a destination). Venir = come (motion toward where the speaker is). Both verbs are highly irregular, both take être in compound tenses, and both have past participles that agree with the subject (allé/allée/allés/allées, venu/venue/venus/venues).

The high-impact periphrases: aller + infinitive is the futur proche (je vais partir = I'm going to leave), the default future in spoken French; venir de + infinitive is the passé récent (je viens de partir = I just left), the only way to express "just did" in French. The imparfait je venais de = "I had just" — a useful and unique construction.

Memorize the conjugations: aller has the present vais/vas/va/allons/allez/vont, the futur stem ir-, and the subjonctif aill-/all-. Venir has the present viens/viens/vient/venons/venez/viennent, the futur stem viendr-, and the subjonctif vienn-/ven-. Both are A1-level material that you will use in every conversation.

The high-frequency idioms — ça va, comment vas-tu, je m'en vais, allons-y, vas-y, aller voir, aller chercher, viens voir, viens chez moi, je viens de France, j'arrive !, venir au monde — are pieces of the language you cannot afford to skip. Drill them as fixed expressions until they fall out of your mouth automatically. With aller and venir internalized, you have unlocked a huge surface area of everyday French.