French aller and faire: present-tense guide
Vocalyra teaching team · Last updated:
Aller (to go) and faire (to do or make) appear constantly in spoken French. Their present-tense forms are irregular, and they also build expressions that cannot be translated word for word from English.
Memorize two compact verb families
Aller follows je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont. Faire follows je fais, tu fais, il/elle/on fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils/elles font. Notice that on va and on fait are singular forms even when on means we in conversation. Je vais is not je alle, and vous faites is not vous faisez. Practise these as short phrases with a subject, because the spoken endings of vais, vas, and va sound very similar.
Make a real sentence, not a list of forms
Use aller for movement with à , au, à la, à l’, or aux: Je vais au travail, nous allons à la gare. The same verb plus an infinitive gives the near future: Je vais appeler Marie ce soir. Faire covers activities and weather: faire du sport, faire la cuisine, il fait froid. The French choice does not always match English do versus make: faire une erreur means make a mistake, while faire attention means pay attention.
The English-speaker traps
English I am going to cook can mean travel toward a place or a future intention. French Je vais cuisiner is a near-future statement; Je vais à la cuisine means I am going to the kitchen. Do not insert an English-style progressive auxiliary into ordinary French present-tense sentences. Also distinguish Je fais du vélo (I cycle) from Je vais à vélo (I go by bicycle). Context tells you whether faire names an activity or aller names a destination.
An efficient spoken drill
Imagine three people: yourself, a friend, and your family. Say where each person goes today and what each does tomorrow. Change the subject aloud: Je vais au marché, nous allons au marché, ils vont au marché. Then turn each into a near-future sentence: Je vais acheter du pain. Finally ask a partner Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? and Où est-ce que tu vas ? Answer in full sentences rather than isolated verbs.
| Subject | Aller | Faire |
|---|---|---|
| je | vais | fais |
| nous | allons | faisons |
| vous | allez | faites |
| ils / elles | vont | font |
Tip: keep the article with an activity: faire du tennis is possible, but faire le tennis is not the ordinary expression for playing tennis.
Quick self-check
Complete: nous ___ au cinéma.
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allons
Complete: vous ___ du sport.
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faites
Translate: I am going to call.
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Je vais appeler.
Choose: ils (font / faisent) la cuisine.
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font
Translate: We are going to the station.
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Nous allons à la gare.