When to use ‘partir’ and when to use ‘aller’
The French verbs ‘partir’ and ‘aller’ can both relate to going somewhere, but they are not interchangeable.
When to use partir
Use partir (pronounced par-teer) when you want to talk about leaving a place or departing, rather than simply saying where you are going.
Example
Je pars à 8 heures. – I’m leaving at 8am.
Elle est partie hier. – She left yesterday.
Nous partons en vacances demain. – We’re leaving for holiday tomorrow.
You can also use partir with the preposition de to specify where someone is leaving from. Here, de means “from”. It changes to d’ before a vowel, and combines with le and les to form du and des.
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Example
Je pars de Paris. – I’m leaving Paris/ I’m leaving from Paris.
Il part du bureau. – He’s leaving the office/ I’m leaving from the office.
You can also use partir to talk about leaving a job or a situation, as in: elle est partie de l’entreprise (she left the company).
Can you use partir to talk about a destination?
Although partir and aller can sometimes be used in similar contexts, they do not mean the same thing. Partir focuses on leaving a place or setting off, while aller focuses on where someone is going.
Example:
Nous partons en vacances demain. – We’re setting off on holiday tomorrow.
Nous allons en vacances à l’étranger. – We’re going on holiday abroad.
Hier, je suis allé au cinéma. – Yesterday, I went to the cinema.
In the last example, aller is the natural choice because you’re talking about where you went. Saying hier, je suis parti au cinéma (yesterday I left to the cinema) is generally not considered correct in standard French when you simply mean that you went to the cinema.
However, partir can still be used with a destination in certain contexts. For example, je pars samedi pour Honolulu means I’m leaving for Honolulu on Saturday. Here, pour introduces the destination of the journey. In French, partir pour is preferred to partir à when specifying a destination.
A simple way to remember the difference between both verbs: partir is about leaving a place, while aller is about going to a place.
Example:
Le train part de Paris. – The train departs from Paris.
Le train va à Paris. – The train goes to Paris.
When to use aller
Use aller (pronounced ah-lay) when you want to say where someone is going or heading. It focuses on the destination, rather than the act of leaving.
Example:
Je vais au travail. – I’m going to work.
Elle va à la boulangerie. – She’s going to the bakery.
Nous allons en Bretagne. -We’re going to Brittany.
Grammar note: Although aller ends in -er, it is an irregular verb. Most verbs ending in –er, such as parler (to speak), follow a regular conjugation pattern, but aller has its own forms that you need to learn by heart.
In the present tense, aller is conjugated as follows:
Je vais – I go / I’m going
Tu vas – You go / You’re going
Il/Elle va – He/She goes / He’s/She’s going
Nous allons – We go / We’re going
Vous allez – You go / You’re going
Ils/Elles vont – They go / They’re going
Finally, aller is also commonly used in expressions of encouragement, to mean ‘go’ is a less movement-based way.
For example, on y va ! means let’s go! And you might know this one if you watch sports – allez les Bleus ! means “come on France!” or “go France!” when cheering on the national team (you could change it to the more generic allez les gars ! – come on guys – for cheering on any team or group).
