You're standing in a bakery in Lyon, or maybe just staring at a blank Duolingo screen, and you need to say you went somewhere. It sounds easy. It's one of the first things we learn in any language. But went to in French is actually a notorious stumbling block because French doesn't just have one way to say it. It has a handful of ways, and if you pick the wrong one, you sound like a textbook from 1985 or, worse, you're accidentally telling someone you've been "transformed" into a baguette.
Most people just reach for allé. It makes sense. Aller means "to go," right? So je suis allé should cover it.
Well, kinda.
French is obsessed with movement and state of being. Depending on whether you're talking about a quick trip to the store, a habit you had as a kid, or a formal diplomatic mission, that "went to" is going to shift shapes. If you want to actually sound like a local, you have to get comfortable with the fact that French is more specific about the nature of the trip than English is.
The Workhorse: Passé Composé and the Vowel Trap
Most of the time, when you want to express went to in French, you are looking for the passé composé of the verb aller. This is the standard "I went" for a completed action.
Je suis allé à la plage. (I went to the beach.)
Notice something? We don't use avoir (to have). We use être (to be). This is the famous "Vandertramp" verb group. If you say J’ai allé, a French person will still understand you, but they’ll know immediately that you’re struggling with the basics. It’s a dead giveaway.
But here is where it gets annoying. You have to match the gender and number.
If a woman is speaking, it's allée.
If a group of guys went? Allés.
A group of women? Allées.
The pronunciation doesn't change, which is a blessing, but your writing has to be sharp. However, aller isn't always the best choice. Native speakers often swap it out for être entirely in casual speech. You’ll hear "J’ai été à la banque" (I was/went to the bank). Purists will tell you this is grammatically "low-tier," but honestly? Everyone says it. It implies the whole trip—going there, being there, and coming back.
When Went to in French Becomes a Story
If you’re talking about a habit, aller changes completely. You can’t use suis allé. You need the imparfait. This is for when you "went to" somewhere repeatedly.
"When I was ten, I went to the park every day."
In this case, it’s J’allais au parc tous les jours. It’s a different vibe. It’s descriptive. It’s the "background music" of your life story. If you use the passé composé here, it sounds like you went once, and that was the end of the story. Using the right "went to" tells the listener whether you’re reporting a fact or painting a picture.
The "Chez" Rule You Can't Ignore
We need to talk about the destination. You don't just "go to" people in French. If you say Je suis allé à ma mère, you are saying something very weird. You go to places, but you go to the house of people.
- Je suis allé au cinéma. (To a place)
- Je suis allé chez le médecin. (To a person/their office)
- Je suis allé chez Sarah. (To Sarah's place)
Using à with a person is a classic mistake. It feels natural to us because of English, but in French, chez is non-negotiable.
The Stealthy Alternative: Se Rendre
If you want to sound a bit more sophisticated—maybe you’re writing an email to a landlord or a boss—you might want to ditch aller entirely. Use se rendre.
It literally means "to render oneself" to a location.
Il s'est rendu à Paris pour affaires. (He went to Paris for business.)
It sounds polished. It sounds like you know your way around a French conjugation table. It’s the difference between saying "I went to the meeting" and "I attended the meeting" or "I made my way to the meeting."
The Nuance of Distance and Return
Sometimes "went to" isn't about the destination, it's about the departure.
Think about the verb partir.
If you say Je suis parti à Londres, you are emphasizing the act of leaving for London. You "went" there, but the focus is on your exit. If you say Je suis allé à Londres, the focus is on the arrival.
Then there's passer.
French people love this one. If you "went to" the store just to grab milk on your way home, you didn't aller there in the grand sense. You passed by or stopped in.
Je suis passé à l'épicerie. It feels more casual. More "lived in."
Why People Get Confused by the Prepositions
The biggest headache with went to in French isn't the verb. It's the "to."
French prepositions are a nightmare for English speakers because they depend on the gender of the country or the type of city.
- Cities: Always use à. Je vais à Tokyo. Easy.
- Masculine Countries: Use au. Je vais au Canada. 3. Feminine Countries: Use en. Je vais en France. 4. Plural Countries: Use aux. Je vais aux États-Unis.
How do you know if a country is feminine? Usually, if it ends in "e," it's feminine (France, Espagne, Belgique). Exceptions exist, like Le Mexique, because French loves to keep you on your toes.
Let's Talk About "Went to" as in "Gone"
There is a subtle distinction between "he has gone to" and "he has been to."
If someone asks where your brother is, and you say Il est allé en Espagne, it means he’s there right now. He went, and he hasn't come back.
If you want to say he "has been" there (in his life), you'd more likely use Il a déjà été en Espagne or Il est déjà allé en Espagne.
📖 Related: Finding the Right Words for Sense of Humor: Why Wit and Levity Mean Different Things
Actionable Steps for Mastering This
Stop trying to memorize every single conjugation at once. It’s a waste of time and your brain will just leak the information out.
- Audit your "Chez": Check your recent sentences. Did you use à for a person? Fix it. Use chez.
- Default to 'Être': When using passé composé for aller, whisper to yourself "I am gone" instead of "I have gone." It helps the être stick.
- Watch the Country Endings: Before you say you "went to" a country, check if it ends in an "e." If it does, use en. If it doesn't, use au.
- Listen for 'Passer': Next time you watch a French film or listen to a podcast like InnerFrench, listen for how often they use passer instead of aller. Start mimicking that for small errands.
The reality is that went to in French is a gateway into the logic of the language. It’s about movement, gender, and the relationship between people and places. It’s more than just a translation; it’s a shift in how you view a journey.
Start by swapping out one suis allé for a suis passé this week. See how it feels. Notice how native speakers respond when you use chez correctly. These small tweaks are what take you from "guy with a translation app" to someone who actually speaks the language.
Focus on the passé composé first. Master the être agreement. Once that's muscle memory, the rest of the nuances—the imparfait habits, the formal se rendre, the casual être—will fall into place naturally through exposure.
Language isn't a math problem to be solved perfectly on the first try. It's a series of habits. Start building the right ones today.