The Near Future (aller + infinitive)

The near future (le futur proche) is how French talks about plans and things that are going to happen. It matches the English "going to" future exactly:

• je vais manger = I am going to eat
• elle va sortir = she is going to go out

You build it with just two ingredients: the present tense of aller (to go) plus an infinitive (the unchanged -er / -ir / -re form of a second verb). Only aller changes to match the subject; the second verb always stays in the infinitive.

This is the only future students need at Foundation tier. The one-word future, le futur simple (je mangerai = I will eat), is Higher tier and has its own lesson.

> (Higher tier) — the futur simple (je mangerai, tu iras…) is not required at Foundation. For plans and intentions, the near future is all you need.

The whole tense is one formula: present of aller + infinitive. Learn the aller column and slot any infinitive after it.

Subject	aller (present)	+ infinitive	Meaning
je	vais	manger	I am going to eat
tu	vas	manger	you are going to eat
il/elle/on	va	manger	he/she is going to eat
nous	allons	manger	we are going to eat
vous	allez	manger	you are going to eat
ils/elles	vont	manger	they are going to eat

Worked examples:

• Je vais regarder un film ce soir. — I am going to watch a film tonight.
• Nous allons visiter Paris. — We are going to visit Paris.
• Ils vont jouer au tennis. — They are going to play tennis.

Only aller is conjugated. The second verb never changes: it is je vais manger, never je vais mange or je vais mangé.

Certain time expressions point to the future and pair naturally with this tense. Dropping one into a sentence makes your intention clear and lifts your writing and speaking marks.

French	English
demain	tomorrow
ce soir	this evening
ce week-end	this weekend
la semaine prochaine	next week
l'année prochaine	next year
plus tard	later
bientôt	soon

Worked examples:

• Demain, je vais aller à la plage. — Tomorrow I am going to go to the beach.
• La semaine prochaine, nous allons faire du sport. — Next week we are going to do sport.
• Plus tard, elle va chercher un emploi. — Later she is going to look for a job.

Notice je vais aller — aller can be its own infinitive. Je vais aller means I am going to go, which is perfectly correct even though aller appears twice.

To say something is not going to happen, wrap ne … pas around aller, the conjugated verb. The infinitive stays after pas.

Positive	Negative	English
je vais sortir	je ne vais pas sortir	I am not going to go out
tu vas travailler	tu ne vas pas travailler	you are not going to work
il va pleuvoir	il ne va pas pleuvoir	it is not going to rain
nous allons partir	nous n'allons pas partir	we are not going to leave

Before a vowel, ne becomes n': nous n'allons pas partir.

Worked examples:

• Je ne vais pas manger de viande. — I am not going to eat meat.
• Ils ne vont pas venir ce soir. — They are not going to come tonight.

The ne … pas hugs aller, not the infinitive: je ne vais pas sortir, never je vais ne pas sortir.

When the second verb is reflexive, its pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) goes directly before the infinitive and matches the subject.

Subject	Near future	English
je	vais me coucher	I am going to go to bed
tu	vas te lever	you are going to get up
il/elle/on	va se reposer	he/she is going to rest
nous	allons nous laver	we are going to wash
vous	allez vous amuser	you are going to have fun
ils/elles	vont se dépêcher	they are going to hurry

Worked examples:

• Je vais me lever à sept heures. — I am going to get up at seven.
• Nous allons nous amuser ce week-end. — We are going to have fun this weekend.

The reflexive pronoun sits between aller and the infinitive and agrees with the subject: je vais me coucher, nous allons nous coucher. Do not leave it as se for every person.

1. Conjugating the second verb

Only aller changes. The following verb must stay in the infinitive: je vais finir, not je vais finis. Adding an ending to the second verb is the most common error.

2. Using the futur simple by accident

Je mangerai (I will eat) is the Higher-tier futur simple, a different tense. For a plan at Foundation, use je vais manger. Do not mix the two forms in the same sentence.

3. Misplacing ne … pas

The negative wraps aller: je ne vais pas sortir. Writing je vais ne pas sortir puts the negative in the wrong place.

4. Forgetting to change the reflexive pronoun

With a reflexive infinitive the pronoun agrees with the subject: nous allons nous coucher, not nous allons se coucher. The pronoun is not frozen as se.

5. Treating aller as if it were regular

Aller is irregular: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Writing je alle or il alle is wrong. If aller is wrong, the whole near future collapses.