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fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

s'en aller

to go away

  • #115 most used
  • Irregular -er verb
  • Past participle: allé
  • Present participle: s’en allant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I go away
  2. tu you go away
  3. il, elle, on he/she goes away
  4. nous we go away
  5. vous you go away
  6. ils, elles they go away

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I went away
  2. tu you went away
  3. il, elle, on he/she went away
  4. nous we went away
  5. vous you went away
  6. ils, elles they went away

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to go away
  2. tu you used to go away
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to go away
  4. nous we used to go away
  5. vous you used to go away
  6. ils, elles they used to go away

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will go away
  2. tu you will go away
  3. il, elle, on he/she will go away
  4. nous we will go away
  5. vous you will go away
  6. ils, elles they will go away

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would go away
  2. tu you would go away
  3. il, elle, on he/she would go away
  4. nous we would go away
  5. vous you would go away
  6. ils, elles they would go away

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I go away
  2. tu (that) you go away
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she go away
  4. nous (that) we go away
  5. vous (that) you go away
  6. ils, elles (that) they go away

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu go away!
  2. nous go away! (let’s)
  3. vous go away! (plural, or formal)

How to use s'en aller

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Bon, je m'en vais, il est tard.

    Right, I'm off, it's late.

  2. Past

    Les voisins s'en sont allés sans dire au revoir.

    The neighbours left without saying goodbye.

  3. Imperfect

    Chaque été, on s'en allait à la montagne.

    Every summer we went off to the mountains.

  4. Future

    Je m'en irai dès que la réunion sera finie.

    I'll leave as soon as the meeting is over.

  5. Conditional

    Je m'en irais bien, mais j'attends un appel.

    I'd happily leave, but I'm waiting for a call.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il vaut mieux que tu t'en ailles avant la nuit.

    You'd better go before dark.

  7. Imperative

    Va-t'en, tu vas rater ton train !

    Go on, you'll miss your train!

Good to know

  • Je m'en vais is I'm off, I'm leaving; va-t'en is go away.
  • Partir is more neutral; s'en aller stresses leaving the place you are in.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -er verb.