The verb aller (to go)

Another French verb that is very common is aller, meaning to go. I don't think I have mentioned this, but there are 3 groups of French verbs: 1st group, -er, which is the easiest to conjugate; 2nd group, -ir, and 3rd group which is irregular verbs.

Aller shoud be 1st group but it is irregular, therefore it falls in the 3rd group.

Je vais - I go
Tu vas - You go
Il va - He goes
Elle va - She goes
Nous allons - We go
Vous allez - You have (formal)
Ils vont - They have
Elles vont - They have

There is no "am going" or "is going" in French. The same verb is used as for "go" or "goes". Examples:

Je vais chez mon ami - I go to my friend's house/I am going to my friend's house

Il va chez le dentiste - He goes to the dentist/He is going to the dentist

Je vais à l'hotel - I am going to the hotel

Je vais à la piscine - I am going to the swimming pool

Je vais au restaurant - I am going to the restaurant

If you notice the last three examples, there are different ways to say "to the".

For masculine nouns, au is used. Eg. au restaurant
For feminine nouns, à la is used. Eg. à la piscine
For words starting with a vowel (or h and y), à l' is used. Eg. à l'hotel
Finally, for plural, aux is used. Eg. aux toilettes

This verb is also used to ask how one is. For example,

Comment vas tu? - How are you? (informal and literally: How go you?)

Comment allez-vous? - How are you? (formal and literally: How go you?)