The expression s'en aller can be a little hard to get your head around, but it just means to leave or go away.
s'en aller in the Present tense (Le Présent)
s'en aller as an imperative (L'Impératif)
You can use it to tell people to go away:
If you want to understand the structure (you don't have to but it's interesting), the en part is actually a replacement (pronoun) for an unspoken d'ici or de [place] so it means from here or from [place].
So,
is structurally similar to get yourself out of here.
s'en aller in the conversational past tense (Le Passé Composé)
Since it's reflexive, it can get complicated in the Passé Composé.
Note that in these cases, the en will be before or after être: formally, it should be before, but in practice, it often ends up after.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ils s'en vont.
They're leaving.
Tu t'en vas déjà?
You're leaving already?
Vive le vent d'hiver,
Qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant,
Dans les grands sapins verts, oh !
Long live the winter wind,
that goes whistling, blowing,
through the big green pine trees, oh!
Il s'en est allé.
Il s'est en allé.
He left.
Allez-vous en !
Go away! (plural or formal)
Nous nous sommes en allés.
We left.
Q&A
Sagar
Kwiziq community member
31 January 2019
5 replies
Why va-t'en and not vas-t'en ?
Isn't the tu-form of aller "vas"?
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
31/01/19
Hi Sagar,
I love the verb ‘s’en aller’ as do most French people and it is commonly used in every day speech for ‘to leave’.
It is however, tricky to use as in your question, in the imperative mood:
It is indeed -
Va t’en ! (no s)
Allez vous-en!
Allons nous-en!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
31/01/19
It kind of follows the rule that verbs ending in -er lose the "s" in the second person singular imperative. Just that the verb form looks different.
Alan
Kwiziq community member
31/01/19
But it doesn't follow the rule that verbs ending in -er recover the "s" in the tu form imperative before "en".
Maybe this exception should be added here:
Alan
Kwiziq community member
31/01/19
On second thoughts, forget that. It's different because the "t" comes between "va" and "en", and it's not just a phonetic "t". (Pity I can't delete that other reply.)
Sagar
Kwiziq community member
31/01/19
Ah, je vous comprends maintenant.
Merci !
Gillian
Kwiziq community member
26/08/18
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
7/08/18
Hi Carole,
You could make the liaison in the second sentence between the s'est and the en ( sounds like sétan) but it's probably one liaison too far as you have to make the following one between en and allé ( nallé).
Liaisons if not compulsory are often instinctive and optional and will often depends on many cultural factors and habits.
Hope this helps!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
29/06/18
Oui, je l'ai entendu dit.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
30/06/18
Hi Donald,
Non, vous n'avez pas tort, la réponse est oui après les expressions qui prennent le subjonctif comme il faut:
Il faut que je m'en aille..
Chris
Kwiziq community member
7/03/18
Hi Dragana, this is a question which is best answered by a native speaker.
Personally, I find it sounds OK.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/03/18
Bonjour Dragana !
You could indeed say Je m'en vais pour les vacances. = I'm going away for the holidays.
I'd say it's less colloquially used in the past tense in this context, we'll tend to use partir instead:
Je suis parti pour les vacances.
Ils sont partis pour les vacances.
Bonne journée !
Chris
Kwiziq community member
19/01/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
26/01/18
Ron
Kwiziq community member
28/07/17
Tamani
Kwiziq community member
31/07/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
31/07/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
6/12/16
Sara
Kwiziq community member
18 May 2019
1 reply
formally vs. in practice?
Could someone please expand a bit on the part that says “formally, it should be before, but in practice, it often ends up after”?
If, for example, we were to write it after in an exam script, would this be marked down and regarded as an inaccuracy?
Thanks in advance!
Chris
Kwiziq community member
20 May 2019
20/05/19
Il s'en est allé is the grammatically correct version. Il s'est en allé is conversational French and would likely be marked incorrect in an exam. I'd use the proper version, just to be on the safe side.