Je vais écrire l’adresse sur l’enveloppe avant de partir.

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Breakdown of Je vais écrire l’adresse sur l’enveloppe avant de partir.

• sur: on
• aller: to go
• avant de: before

Questions & Answers about Je vais écrire l’adresse sur l’enveloppe avant de partir.

Why is it je vais écrire instead of j’écrirai?

Je vais écrire uses the near future: aller + infinitive. It often suggests something planned or about to happen soon, like English I’m going to write.

J’écrirai is the simple future, meaning I will write. That also works, but it can sound a little more neutral, less immediate, or slightly more formal depending on context.

So in this sentence, je vais écrire gives a natural sense of an intended next action.

Does vais here literally mean physical movement, like I am going somewhere?

No. In je vais écrire, vais is part of the grammar pattern aller + infinitive, which forms the near future.

So here it does not mean that the speaker is physically going somewhere in order to write. It simply means I am going to write.

Why is écrire in the infinitive form?

Because after aller in the near future construction, the second verb stays in the infinitive.

So:

• je vais écrire
• tu vas écrire
• nous allons écrire

Only aller is conjugated. The main action verb, here écrire, stays unchanged.