Questions & Answers about Nous allons au théâtre ce soir.
What does nous allons literally mean, and what tense is it?
Nous allons is the present tense of the verb aller (to go).
- nous = we
- allons = (we) go / are going
So nous allons literally means we go or we are going.
Even though it’s present tense, when you add a time expression like ce soir (this evening / tonight), in natural English you usually translate the whole sentence as We’re going to the theater tonight.
Could this sentence also mean a future action, like “We will go to the theater tonight”?
Yes. In French, the present tense is very often used to talk about the near future when there’s a time expression:
If you really want to emphasize the future as a separate tense, you could use the simple future:
- Nous irons au théâtre ce soir.
→ Also We will go to the theater tonight, but sounds a bit more formal or distant, like a promise or a plan you’re stating more firmly.
In everyday speech, Nous allons au théâtre ce soir is completely normal for a future event later the same day.
Why is it au théâtre and not à le théâtre?