Partir vs. s'en aller

Frank C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Partir vs. s'en aller

In this context, can we say "...mon père et moi (nous) nous en allions en weekend ensemble." ?

This question relates to:French writing exercise "My weekends with Dad"

Freeform Writing Exercise A2

Asked 2 years ago

Like0Answer2

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Partir and s'en aller are synonyms but they carry different connotations. First off, it seems to me that s'en aller belongs to a more familiar register of French.

Je m'en vais. -- I'm off. / I'm out of here. / I'm leaving.

In the imperative, va-t-en means "get out!" in a rather rude way.

Je pars au vacances. -- I'm leaving for vacation. You could not say Je m'en vais au vacances.

Like22 years ago

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Frank,

Just to add to what Chris said, we would not use s'en aller for holidays.

partir en vacances/en weekend

Like12 years ago

Frank C. asked:

Partir vs. s'en aller

In this context, can we say "...mon père et moi (nous) nous en allions en weekend ensemble." ?

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