French futur proche: aller + infinitive for the near future

Je vais manger dans dix minutes.I'm going to eat in ten minutes.

To talk about something that is about to happen or that you plan to do, French uses the futur proche: the present tense of aller followed by a verb in the infinitive. It matches the English going to future almost exactly.

Quick shortcut: conjugate aller in the present, then add the infinitive unchanged: je vais partir, tu vas partir, nous allons partir. The infinitive keeps its form; an object or reflexive pronoun goes immediately before it (je vais me lever), and ne… pas surrounds the conjugated aller.

The form

aller is irregular in the present — the same forms you already use to say where someone is going:

The second verb never changes: it stays in the infinitive whatever the subject.

• Il va arriver bientôt.
• Nous allons visiter le musée demain.
• Elles vont commencer un nouveau cours.

If aller itself is unfamiliar, it is covered in Present tense: common irregular verbs.

When to use it

The futur proche is the everyday way to speak about the future. Use it for:

• plans and intentions: Je vais chercher du travail.
• something about to happen: Attention, tu vas tomber !
• predictions based on the present: Le ciel est gris, il va pleuvoir.

It is very common in speech and informal writing. There is also a futur simple (one-word forms like je partirai), used for future statements and predictions too; it is generally less conversational than the futur proche and is covered separately in futur simple.

Time words that go with it

The futur proche often appears with a word or phrase that places the action ahead:

• demain, ce soir, ce week-end
• bientôt, tout de suite, dans un moment
• la semaine prochaine, l'année prochaine
• dans deux jours, dans une heure

Ce soir, on va regarder un film.

The negative

ne… pas wraps around the conjugated aller, not the infinitive:

• Je ne vais pas sortir ce soir.
• On ne va pas attendre longtemps.
• Elle ne va pas venir.

Standard neutral usage puts ne… pas around aller, as above. (Elle va ne pas venir — ne… pas on the infinitive — is possible but marked and contrastive; it isn't the ordinary futur proche.)

In casual speech the ne is often dropped (Je vais pas sortir), but in standard writing both parts stay.

Pronouns with the infinitive

A reflexive or object pronoun sits right before the infinitive, not before aller:

• Je vais me lever tôt.
• Tu vas le faire maintenant ?
• ✅ Nous allons les appeler, never ❌ Nous les allons appeler.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je manger demain → ✅ Je vais manger demain (the futur proche needs aller)
• ❌ Je vais à manger → ✅ Je vais manger (no à before the infinitive)
• ❌ Nous vont partir → ✅ Nous allons partir (aller must agree with nous)
• ❌ Il va mange → ✅ Il va manger (the second verb stays in the infinitive)
• ❌ Elle ne pas va rester → ✅ Elle ne va pas rester (ne… pas surrounds the conjugated aller)

Quick check

Put the verb in brackets into the futur proche:

1. Demain, je ____ (visiter) ma grand-mère.
2. Ils ____ (arriver) dans une heure.
3. Nous ____ (ne pas travailler) ce week-end.
4. Tu ____ (prendre) le train ?
5. Il fait froid, il ____ (neiger).

Key takeaways

• Futur proche = present tense of aller + infinitive: je vais partir, nous allons partir.
• The infinitive never changes; only aller is conjugated for the subject.
• It is the normal spoken way to talk about plans and the near future, often with demain, bientôt, la semaine prochaine.
• Negative: ne… pas around aller — je ne vais pas partir.
• Object and reflexive pronouns go before the infinitive: je vais me lever.