The title of this page may be slightly misleading in that it implies that there are a plethora of irregular -ER verbs. With the exception of some verby minor spell changes to some conjugations of verbs ending in -ger and -cer, which are due to hard and soft vowels (i.e. nous mangeons keeps the infinitive 'E'), there is, in fact, only one.

However, it just so happens that this one is amongst the most commonly used verbs in the French lexicon, aller. Translated directly as 'to go', aller can be used in the following situations:

Les Verbes Irréguliers -ER | Irregular -ER Verbs

1. 'To go' in the traditional sense

   Où vas-tu?
   Where are you going?
   Je suis allé au magasin
   I went to the shops
   Ça va?
   How's it going?
   Ça va bien
   It's going well

   
   
2. Futur proche using aller and the infinitive form of a verb

   Je vais danser ce soir
   I'm going to danse tonight
   Nous allons partir bientôt
   We're going to leave soon

   
   
3. In many idiomatic expressions

   Aller à pied
   To go on foot
   J'ai la pêche!
   I'm great (I have the fish!)
   Aller au fond des choses
   To get to the bottom of things
   Allez-y!
   Go ahead!
   Ça va sans dire
   That goes without saying

Conjugation

The table below illustrates aller conjugated in the present tense. To learn to conjugate aller in all other tenses, check out the uber-useful and highly recommended University of Chicago's ARTFL Project, or see our French verbs tenses section.