Je vais bientôt partir en ville.

I am going to leave for the city soon.

Breakdown of Je vais bientôt partir en ville.

• je: I
• la ville: the city
• aller: to go
• partir: to leave
• bientôt: soon

Questions & Answers about Je vais bientôt partir en ville.

Why does the sentence use Je vais with an infinitive (partir) instead of using the future tense, like Je partirai?

Using Je vais partir is called the futur proche (near future) in French. It indicates a future action that is expected to happen fairly soon or that is planned. Je partirai (the simple future) can sound more formal or less immediate. Both are correct, but Je vais partir emphasizes a near certainty or closeness in time for the action.

Why do we say en ville and not à la ville?

In French, when referring to going “to town,” it’s very common to say en ville. Think of en ville as a fixed expression meaning “into town” or “downtown.” You’ll rarely hear à la ville in modern French for this purpose, and if you do, it can carry a different meaning (referring more literally to a city rather than the general idea of going into the town).

Why is bientôt placed after vais and before partir?

Adverbs in French often come right after the conjugated verb, especially short, common adverbs like bientôt. In Je vais bientôt partir, the structure is: Je vais (conjugated verb) + bientôt (adverb) + partir (infinitive). This positioning keeps the focus on the immediacy of the action.

Can bientôt be moved around in the sentence?

You could say Bientôt, je vais partir en ville, but it’s slightly more dramatic or emphatic. Saying Je vais bientôt partir en ville is the most straightforward and common way. The meaning doesn’t change drastically, but native speakers typically say it in the middle or near the end to keep the sentence flowing naturally.

Do I need any extra preposition after partir?

Not in this context. We often say partir followed by the place we’re going, like partir en ville, partir en vacances, or partir à l'étranger. You can add pour if you want to emphasize the destination (partir pour la ville), but in everyday speech, partir en ville is perfectly natural.