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13.4. Indiquer le mouvement

Indicating Movement with Verbs Such as Conduire

13.4.1. The Main Idea

To talk about movement, transportation, and getting from one place to another, you can use verbs such as aller, venir, partir, arriver, and conduire.

aller	to go
venir	to come
partir	to leave
arriver	to arrive
conduire	to drive

These verbs help you describe where someone is going, where they are coming from, how they travel, and who is driving.

13.4.2. The Verb Conduire

Conduire means to drive.

je conduis	I drive / I am driving
tu conduis	you drive / you are driving
il conduit	he drives / he is driving
elle conduit	she drives / she is driving
nous conduisons	we drive / we are driving
vous conduisez	you drive / you are driving
ils conduisent	they drive / they are driving
elles conduisent	they drive / they are driving

13.4.3. Examples with Conduire

Je conduis une voiture.	I drive a car.
Tu conduis souvent ?	Do you drive often?
Il conduit au centre-ville.	He drives downtown.
Elle conduit à l’université.	She drives to university.
Nous conduisons prudemment.	We drive carefully.
Vous conduisez vite ?	Do you drive fast?
Ils conduisent en ville.	They drive in the city.

13.4.4. Other Movement Verbs

aller	to go
venir	to come
revenir	to come back
partir	to leave
arriver	to arrive
rentrer	to return home
sortir	to go out
monter	to go up / to get on
descendre	to go down / to get off

13.4.5. Movement with Transportation

prendre le bus	to take the bus
prendre le métro	to take the metro
prendre le train	to take the train
prendre l’avion	to take the plane
conduire une voiture	to drive a car
aller à pied	to go on foot / to walk
faire du vélo	to ride a bike
se déplacer en bus	to get around by bus
se déplacer en voiture	to get around by car
se déplacer à pied	to get around on foot

13.4.6. Indicating Direction

aller à	to go to
venir de	to come from
partir pour	to leave for
arriver à	to arrive at / in
rentrer à	to return to
sortir de	to go out of
monter dans	to get into / onto
descendre de	to get off / down from

Examples:

Je vais à la gare.	I am going to the train station.
Je viens du café.	I am coming from the café.
Je pars pour Montréal.	I am leaving for Montreal.
J’arrive à l’université.	I am arriving at university.
Je rentre à la maison.	I am going home.
Je sors du métro.	I am getting out of the metro.
Je monte dans le bus.	I am getting on the bus.
Je descends du train.	I am getting off the train.

13.4.7. Movement in the Passé Composé

Many movement verbs use être in the passé composé.

Je suis allé au café.	I went to the café. masculine speaker
Je suis allée au café.	I went to the café. feminine speaker
Je suis arrivé à midi.	I arrived at noon. masculine speaker
Je suis arrivée à midi.	I arrived at noon. feminine speaker
Je suis parti hier.	I left yesterday. masculine speaker
Je suis partie hier.	I left yesterday. feminine speaker
Je suis rentré à la maison.	I went home. masculine speaker
Je suis rentrée à la maison.	I went home. feminine speaker

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject.

13.4.8. Conduire in the Passé Composé

Conduire uses avoir in the passé composé.

J’ai conduit une voiture.	I drove a car.
Tu as conduit hier ?	Did you drive yesterday?
Il a conduit au centre-ville.	He drove downtown.
Elle a conduit prudemment.	She drove carefully.
Nous avons conduit longtemps.	We drove for a long time.

The past participle of conduire is conduit.

13.4.9. Movement with Y and En

Use y to replace a place introduced by à.

Je vais au café.	J’y vais.
Je suis allé au café.	J’y suis allé. masculine speaker
Je vais à l’université.	J’y vais.
Je suis allé à l’université.	J’y suis allé. masculine speaker

Use en to replace a place introduced by de.

Je viens du café.	J’en viens.
Je suis revenu du café.	J’en suis revenu. masculine speaker
Je sors de la gare.	J’en sors.
Je suis sorti de la gare.	J’en suis sorti. masculine speaker

13.4.10. Asking About Movement

Tu vas où ?	Where are you going?
Tu viens d’où ?	Where are you coming from?
Tu pars quand ?	When are you leaving?
Tu arrives à quelle heure ?	What time are you arriving?
Tu rentres quand ?	When are you going home?
Tu conduis souvent ?	Do you drive often?
Tu prends le bus ou tu conduis ?	Do you take the bus or drive?

13.4.11. Core Patterns

conduire	to drive
conduire une voiture	to drive a car
aller à	to go to
venir de	to come from
partir pour	to leave for
arriver à	to arrive at / in
rentrer à	to return to
monter dans	to get into / onto
descendre de	to get off / down from
y	replaces à + place
en	replaces de + place

13.4.12. Practice

I drive a car.
Do you drive often? informal
I am going to the station.
I am coming from the café.
I am leaving for Montreal.
I am getting on the bus.
I am getting off the train.
I drove yesterday.
I went there. masculine speaker
I came back from there. masculine speaker

13.4.13. Answers

I drive a car.	Je conduis une voiture.
Do you drive often? informal	Tu conduis souvent ?
I am going to the station.	Je vais à la gare.
I am coming from the café.	Je viens du café.
I am leaving for Montreal.	Je pars pour Montréal.
I am getting on the bus.	Je monte dans le bus.
I am getting off the train.	Je descends du train.
I drove yesterday.	J’ai conduit hier.
I went there. masculine speaker	J’y suis allé.
I came back from there. masculine speaker	J’en suis revenu.

13.4.14. Short Dialogue

A : Tu vas où ?	A: Where are you going?
B : Je vais au centre-ville.	B: I am going downtown.
A : Tu prends le bus ou tu conduis ?	A: Are you taking the bus or driving?
B : Je conduis aujourd’hui. Hier, j’ai pris le bus.	B: I am driving today. Yesterday, I took the bus.
A : Tu arrives à quelle heure ?	A: What time are you arriving?
B : J’arrive à midi.	B: I am arriving at noon.

13.4.15. Checkpoint

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to use conduire to talk about driving, use common movement verbs such as aller, venir, partir, arriver, rentrer, monter, and descendre, describe transportation, and use y and en to replace place expressions.

13.4.16. Try It Out

Try saying this in French:

Where are you going?

I’m taking the bus.

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Possible answer:

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