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
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.
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!
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
19/01/18
-- Chris.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
26/01/18
Ron
Kwiziq community member
28/07/17
Je ne connais pas cette chanson. Quel est le titre?
Tamani
Kwiziq community member
31/07/17
Bonne journée!
Ron
Kwiziq community member
31/07/17
Merci et bonne chance pour vos études dans la langage française.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
No, it would be correct as well.
Bonne journée !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
6/12/16
This is the rule applying to all -ER verbs in L'Impératif in French:
in the "tu" form, they lose the -s, unless they're followed by "- y" or "- en".
"Aller" though irregular -ER, still abides by this rule.
Have a look at the related lesson:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/conjugate-regular-verbs-in-l-imperatif-imperative
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Dragana
Kwiziq community member
7 March 2018
2 replies
Left for holidays - can you say "ils se sont en allés pour leurs vacances"
Chris
Kwiziq community member
7 March 2018
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 March 2018
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 !