Learn Hardcore French: Je compte aller en France l'année prochaine.

to count:
- Je compte jusqu’à dix. = I count to ten.
to intend / to plan on (when followed by an infinitive verb):
- Je compte aller en France. = I’m planning to go to France / I intend to go to France.
to matter / to be important:
- Ça compte beaucoup pour moi. = That matters a lot to me.

In your sentence, compter + infinitive (compter aller) is a fixed pattern meaning “to intend to do / to plan to do.”

What’s the difference between Je compte aller en France l’année prochaine, Je vais aller en France l’année prochaine, and J’irai en France l’année prochaine?

All three refer to a future trip, but the nuance and structure differ:

Je compte aller en France l’année prochaine.
- Literally: I’m counting on going / I plan to go.
- Focus: intention, personal plan. It suggests you’ve decided and are planning it, but it’s still a plan.
Je vais aller en France l’année prochaine.
- This is the French “near future” (aller + infinitive).
- Focus: a future action that is quite certain or already organized.
- Very common in spoken French; close to English “I’m going to go to France next year.”
J’irai en France l’année prochaine.
- Simple future tense (aller in the future).
- Focus: statement of fact / prediction / promise.
- Slightly more formal or neutral; often used in writing or careful speech.

In everyday conversation, Je vais aller… and Je compte aller… are both common, but they don’t feel exactly the same: compter highlights your intention; aller + infinitif highlights the future action itself.

Why is it Je compte aller and not Je compte d’aller?

In French, some verbs are followed directly by an infinitive (no preposition), and others require à or de.

Verbs like vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, savoir, espérer, préférer, and compter are typically followed directly by an infinitive:
- Je veux aller.
- Je peux venir.
- J’espère partir.
- Je compte aller.

So Je compte aller is correct, and Je compte d’aller is wrong.

If you want to use compter with de, the structure changes completely, e.g.:

Je compte sur toi. = I’m counting on you.
Here sur, not de, is used, and there’s no infinitive.

Why is it en France and not à la France or dans la France?

For countries, French usually uses en, au, or aux, not à la or dans la, to say “to / in”:

en
- feminine countries (and most countries starting with a vowel):
  - en France, en Italie, en Allemagne, en Espagne
au
- masculine countries:
  - au Canada, au Japon, au Portugal
aux
- plural countries:
  - aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas

France is grammatically feminine, so you say en France for both “to France” and “in France.”

À la France is almost never used this way; it would sound incorrect for “to/in France.”
Dans la France is possible only in special contexts (e.g. dans la France du XIXe siècle = in 19th‑century France), not for normal “going to France.”

Why do we say en France but au Canada? What decides between en and au?

It depends mainly on the grammatical gender (and sometimes form) of the country name:

Feminine singular countries → en
- en France, en Chine, en Russie, en Argentine
Masculine singular countries → au
- au Canada, au Mexique, au Brésil
Plural countries → aux
- aux États-Unis, aux Philippines, aux Pays-Bas
Exceptions: some masculine countries beginning with a vowel also take en instead of au (e.g. en Iran, en Afghanistan) in modern usage.

Because France is feminine, you must say en France.

Why is it l’année prochaine and not l’an prochaine?

Two points: the noun (an vs année) and the adjective agreement (prochain / prochaine).

An vs année
- an = a year as a countable unit (age, duration, numbers).
  - J’ai 20 ans. = I’m 20 years old.
  - Je pars pour deux ans. = I’m leaving for two years.
- année = a year as a period / whole span, often with some qualitative idea (this year, next year, a difficult year, etc.).
  - Cette année est difficile.
  - L’année prochaine = the coming year (as a whole period).
Here you’re talking about the next year as a period of time, so année is natural.
Prochain / prochaine
- an is masculine → l’an prochain
- année is feminine → l’année prochaine

So both exist, but with slightly different nuances:

L’an prochain = next year (more neutral, unit of time)
L’année prochaine = next year (as a period; very common in speech)

In practice, learners can safely use l’année prochaine in this kind of sentence.

Why is it written l’année and not la année?

This is due to elision (l’élision) in French.

The article la becomes l’ before a word that starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u, or mute h).
année begins with the vowel sound /a/.

So:

la
- année → l’année
la école → l’école
la orange → l’orange

This is both a spelling rule and a pronunciation rule: l’année is pronounced more smoothly than la année.

Why is prochaine placed after année? Could it be la prochaine année?

In French, most adjectives usually come after the noun:

une voiture rouge (a red car)
un film intéressant (an interesting film)

Prochain / prochaine is a bit special: its position can change the nuance.

l’année prochaine (noun + adjective)
- Most common, neutral way to say “next year.”
la prochaine année
- Grammatically possible, but sounds unusual in this context.
- When prochain(e) is before the noun, it often has a more “order in a sequence” feel, or is used in formal/specific contexts (e.g. les prochaines années = the coming years as a series).

For talking about “next year” in everyday speech, l’année prochaine is the natural choice.

Can I move l’année prochaine to the beginning or end and say: L’année prochaine, je compte aller en France or Je compte aller en France, l’année prochaine?

Yes, all three are possible:

Je compte aller en France l’année prochaine.
L’année prochaine, je compte aller en France.
Je compte aller en France, l’année prochaine.

Nuances:

(1) is the most neutral and typical order: subject – verb – complements.
(2) puts emphasis on the time frame (next year) by putting it first. Very common in speech and writing.
(3) is also possible; the comma prosody slightly emphasizes l’année prochaine, as an afterthought or clarification.

For learners, (1) and (2) are the best to imitate.

How is compte pronounced? Do you pronounce the final -pte?

Compte in Je compte aller… is pronounced approximately like [kont] in IPA:

com- → like “koh(n)” with a nasal vowel (the m is not fully pronounced; it nasalizes the vowel).
The -p- is silent.
The final -e is silent.
The final -t is usually not pronounced here in standard speech.

So:

Je compte aller… ≈ zhuh kont alé (very approximate English phonetics).

Also note:

There is no liaison between compte and aller: you do not say cont‑ta‑ller; you keep the t silent.

Are there pronunciation points I should watch for in the whole sentence?

Yes, a few key ones:

Je → /ʒə/ (like “zhuh”).
compte → /kɔ̃t/ (nasal “on” sound; final p and e silent, t normally silent here).
aller → /ale/ (“a” as in “father,” clear l, final -er pronounced /e/, not /ər/).
en → /ɑ̃/ or /ɑ̃/ depending on accent; a nasal vowel (don’t pronounce a strong “n”).
France → /fʁɑ̃s/ (back French r, nasal “an,” final e silent; no “s” sound at the end).
l’année → /lane/ (link the l’ smoothly to année; the accent on é gives an /e/ sound).
prochaine → /pʁɔʃɛn/ (the ch is like “sh,” and final e is pronounced here because of the following consonant).

Roughly:
Je compte aller en France l’année prochaine. ≈ zhuh kont alé an fronss lané pro-shenn (very approximate).

Could I say Je pense aller en France l’année prochaine instead of Je compte aller…? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say that, and it’s correct:

Je pense aller en France l’année prochaine.

Differences in nuance:

Je compte aller…
- Focuses on a decision / intention.
- Suggests you more or less plan or expect to go.
Je pense aller…
- Literally “I think of going / I’m thinking of going.”
- Slightly less firm; it can sound more like you’re considering the idea, depending on context.

Another common option is:

J’ai l’intention d’aller en France l’année prochaine.
- Very explicit: “I have the intention of going…” (quite strong intention, a bit more formal).

Is Je compte aller en France l’année prochaine formal or informal?

It’s neutral. You can use it:

in casual conversation with friends,
in semi‑formal contexts (with colleagues, in an email),
even in fairly formal spoken French.

It’s slightly more “careful” or “bookish” than Je vais aller…, but it’s still very natural in everyday speech. It does not sound slangy or overly formal.

Why do we say en France and not include an article like la France after aller?

With countries, when you use en / au / aux to mean “to / in,” you don’t repeat the definite article:

Je vais en France. (not en la France)
Je vis au Canada. (not au le Canada)
J’habite aux États-Unis. (not aux les États-Unis)

The article is built into the preposition combination:

en = en + la for feminine countries
au = à + le for masculine countries
aux = à + les for plural countries

That’s why you just say en France, not à la France or en la France in this meaning.

Could I say Je compte que j’irai en France l’année prochaine?

No, that sounds unnatural.

With the meaning “I plan / I intend,” compter is normally followed directly by an infinitive:

Je compte aller en France.

You don’t say Je compte que… in this sense. If you want a que‑clause, you’d use another verb, for example:

Je pense que j’irai en France l’année prochaine.
Je crois que j’irai en France l’année prochaine.

But with compter meaning “to intend / to plan,” stick to compter + infinitive.