# FR: On va aller



## gpuri

Bonjour,

I want to know why the word '*aller*' is being used in the sentence below: (I think this is what I heard on an audio CD)

"Demain, on va aussi *aller *au cinéma"

I understand that aller + infinitive is used when talking about going to do something in the near future. But this seems a little confusing as you have the aller and 'va' repeated in the same sentence. I believe the sentence should mean: "Tomorrow, one will also go to the movies"


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## Lorne

Tomorrow, we're also going to the cinema.
Think of it as "We are also _going to go _to the cinema.", which is a perfectly good sentence in English. So someone might say, "Tomorrow we're going shopping and we're also going to go to the cinema."


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## gpuri

merci beaucoup. But how does it mean: "Tomorrow, we're also going to the cinema"?

if it was 'we' they would use 'nous allons' right? It says "on va".

What do you think?


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## All in One

*On *is the informal equivalent of _nous_ as the subject of a sentence. (_Nous_ as an object is always _nous_, though.)


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## gpuri

Bonjour All in One,
Can you give me an example of nous as an object to demonstrate the difference?
 e.g. we are happy
we should dance

are these using 'nous' as an object?
merci.


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## All in One

You should ask yourself first: In English, are these using 'we' as an object? The answer lies within the question - 'we' is never an object. As a result, it would very unlikely translate as an object _nous_ in French.


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## gpuri

So, these are examples of 'le futur proche'. - Tomorrow, we're also going to the cinéma.

But if I were to change this slightly to 'I am going to the cinéma' (in present tense) then we would leave out the 'aller' and it would be: Je vais au cinéma - n'est-ce pas?

another example:
I am going to call my sister /Je vais téléponer à ma sœur (present tense)
The boys will go to the movies/Les garçons vont aller au cinéma (future tense hence the use of _aller_)


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## jann

You're making this way too hard for yourself.   It's exactly like English.  Compare:

Simple future
The main verb is conjugated in the future tense.  In French, that means you use future tense conjugation endings.  In English, that means you add the auxiliary "will."

Tomorrow I will go out with friends. = _Demain, je sortirai avec des amis._
We will eat dinner together. = _Nous mangerons ensemble._ (Informal: _on mangera ensemble._)
Afterwards, we will go to the cinema. = _Après, nous irons au cinéma._ (Informal: _on ira au ciné_)


Future proche 
The main verb stays in the infinitive.  The helping verb is a conjugated form of "to go."  In English, we conjutate it in the present progessive ("I am going...").  In French, we conjugate it in the normal old present tense (_"je vais..."_)

Tomorrow I am going to go out with friends. = _Demain, je vais sortir avec des amis._
We are going to eat dinner together = _Nous allons manger ensemble_ (Informal: _on va manger ensemble_)
Afterwards, we are going to go to the cinema = _Après, nous allons aller au cinéma_ (Informal: _on va aller au ciné_)


If you have never learned about substituting _on_ for _nous_ in informal French, please read this or this.


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## gpuri

I think it has clicked in my mind now - le futur proche. My book didn't have a lot of explanation on this and I think I need to change: The boys *will *go to the movies/Les garçons vont aller au cinéma
to: "The boys *are going* to go to the movies" to keep it in le futur proche. (please confirm).

I will keep the explanation of the simple future in the back of my head for now as I have not got up to that in my French book yet (Vis-à-Vis).

Merci.


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## jann

gpuri said:


> I think I need to change: The boys *will *go to the movies/Les garçons vont aller au cinéma
> to: "The boys *are going* to go to the movies" to keep it in le futur proche. (please confirm).


I confirm that you must change "will" to "going to" if you want to write the sentence in the futur proche in English.

"The boys will go..." is the simple future.  "The boys are going to go..." is the futur proche.

Likewise, _"Les garçons iront..." _is the simple future ; _"Les garçons vont aller..."_ is the futur proche.


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## gpuri

Merci beaucoup Jann.


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## gpuri

jann said:


> Simple future
> The main verb is conjugated in the future tense.  In French, that means you use future tense conjugation endings.  In English, that means you add the auxiliary "will."
> 
> Tomorrow I will go out with friends. = _Demain, je sortirai avec des amis._



Bonjour,
Does the following sentence, also have an alternative structure in which the simple future is applied where the main verb is conjugated in the future tense?

Tonight, I *will *visit my friend. (Ce soir, je vais render visite à mon ami) Assuming this is the correct translation.
Hence could this also be: Ce soir, je visiterai mon ami.

Lastly, if I made the sentence: "Tonight I *am going *to go to visit my friend" would both or just one of the following sentences be correct?
1. Ce soir, je vais render visite à mon ami.
2. Ce soir, je vais visiter mon ami.


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## Beauceron-puppy

Hi gpuri

Question#1
Oui les 2 formes sont possibles et ont quasiment le même sens.
_*Ce soir, j'irai voir mes amis.*_ Futur de l'indicatif + verbe à l' infinitif
*Ce soir, je verrai mes amis*. Futur de l'indicatif

En ce qui concerne "_*Rendre visite*_ et _*Visiter*_"
le premier ne s'utilise que pour parler de quelqu'un ou d'un groupe de gens "Je vais rendre visite à mes grands-parents"
le second ne s'utilise que pour parler d'un lieu "J'ai visité les pyramides d'Egypte" 
ou "Dans ma recherche d'appartement pour l'année prochaine, J'ai visité 30 appartements avant de trouver celui qui me convient"

Voilà, j'espère t'avoir aidé 
BP


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## Maître Capello

Tonight, I *will *visit my friend. ↔ _Ce soir, je *rendrai* visite à mon ami._ / (_Ce soir, je *visiterai* mon ami._)
Tonight, I *am going *to visit my friend. ↔ _Ce soir, je *vais* rendre visite à mon ami._ / (_Ce soir, je *vais* visiter mon ami._)
Tonight, I *will *go to visit my friend. ↔ _Ce soir, j'*irai* rendre visite à mon ami._ / (_Ce soir, j'*irai* visiter mon ami._)
Tonight, I *am going *to go to visit my friend. ↔ _Ce soir, je *vais* aller rendre visite à mon ami._ / (_Ce soir, je *vais* aller visiter mon ami._)



Beauceron-puppy said:


> En ce qui concerne "_*Rendre visite*_ et _*Visiter*_"
> le premier ne s'utilise que pour parler de quelqu'un ou d'un groupe de gens "Je vais rendre visite à mes grands-parents"
> le second ne s'utilise que pour parler d'un lieu "J'ai visité les pyramides d'Egypte"


Non, c'est certes ce que l'on dit le plus souvent de nos jours, mais on peut aussi _visiter quelqu'un_. Quoi qu'il en soit, cette question est ici hors sujet et a déjà fait l'objet de plusieurs fils, notamment visiter / rendre visite à et visiter qqn / rendre visite à qqn (forum Français Seulement). Si vous voulez poursuivre la discussion, faites-le dans l'un ou l'autre de ces deux fils.

Maître Capello
Membre et modérateur


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## gpuri

Bonjour,

I just want to confirm the following negative sentences which also use aller + infinitive for future proche:

We are not going to the cinema          = Nous ne allons pas au cinéma
We are not going *to go *to the cinema  = Nous ne allons pas *aller *au cinéma


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## Oddmania

Right, except_ n*e* *a*llons_ is always contracted into _n'allons _(just like_ j*e* *a*i _becomes _j'ai_).


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