Look at these expressions of purpose:
Elle a acheté de la farine pour faire un gâteau.
She bought flour (in order) to make a cake.
Je vais au cinéma pour voir un film.
I'm going to the cinema (in order) to see a film.
Pour y aller, tu as besoin de prendre le bus.
To go there, you need to take the bus.
Je prends des leçons pour apprendre le français.
I'm taking lessons to learn French.
To express a purpose in French (in order to [do something]), we use the preposition pour + [infinitif].
You can also use the more elegant expression afin de + [infinitif] in the same context:
Case of pour + reflexive verbs
Je vais dans ma chambre pour m'habiller.
I'm going to my room (in order) to get dressed.
Tu lis pour te relaxer.
You read to relax.
Nous allons à la fête foraine pour nous amuser.
We're going to the funfair to have fun.
Les hommes utilisent des rasoirs pour se raser.
Men use razors to shave.
To express purpose with reflexive verbs, you will follow this pattern:
ATTENTION:
The reflexive pronoun needs to match the subject of the verb (who's doing the action) :
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Je vais dans ma chambre pour m'habiller.
I'm going to my room (in order) to get dressed.
Pour y aller, tu as besoin de prendre le bus.
To go there, you need to take the bus.
Je prends des leçons afin d'apprendre le français.
I'm taking lessons (in order) to learn French.
Elle a acheté de la farine pour faire un gâteau.
She bought flour (in order) to make a cake.
Nous allons à la fête foraine pour nous amuser.
We're going to the funfair to have fun.
Je vais au cinéma pour voir un film.
I'm going to the cinema (in order) to see a film.
Tu lis pour te relaxer.
You read to relax.
Les hommes utilisent des rasoirs pour se raser.
Men use razors to shave.
Je prends des leçons pour apprendre le français.
I'm taking lessons to learn French.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
29/01/18
Je vais voir un film -- I am going to see a movie.
Je vais regarder un film -- I am going to watch a movie.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
David
Kwiziq community member
29/01/18
David
Chris
Kwiziq community member
30/01/18
-- Chris.
steven
Kwiziq community member
11/04/18
According to Duolingo, "regarder" is used with more intent while "voir" is used more passively
Elle va voir la ville - She's going to see the city
Le chat regarde le poisson - The cat is (actively) watching the fish
Ron
Kwiziq community member
6/10/17
This seems like a very good question to me; I had not looked at it like this previously. I will be interested to learn the reasoning, too.
Bonne journée
helen
Kwiziq community member
6/10/17
Chris
Kwiziq community member
17/10/17
the use of directional prepositions in French is different from English. Also, the French don't differentiate as acutely between being somewhere (location) and going somewhere (direction).
Je suis dans ma chambre = I am in my room.
Je vais dans ma chambre = I am going to my room.
The difference of location versus direction is carried by the verb (je suis vs. je vais).
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Ron
Kwiziq community member
17/10/17
Merci for your excellent explanation.
Ron
Ron
Kwiziq community member
3/08/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/08/17
In French, you cannot use the verb aller (to go) without mentioning "where" you're going.
The pronoun y here means "there" and is simply used to recall the necessary destination :)
Have a look at our lesson on y :
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/the-adverbial-pronoun-y-means-there
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
4 July 2018
4 replies
can you omit 'pour' ?
Just to be clear, in expressions like : 'Je vais au cinéma pour voir un film' ... presumably this implies that it is wrong to just say 'Je vais au cinéma voir un film'
Chris
Kwiziq community member
5 July 2018
5/07/18
He Stewart,
yes, in these cases you can't do without "pour".
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
5 July 2018
5/07/18
Alan
Kwiziq community member
5 July 2018
5/07/18
I'm not a native speaker either, but I would have given you the opposite answer. I think pour is only used to stress the purpose, it can be omitted.
There's a song by Boris Vian with the line:
J'vais au cinéma voir des films suédois
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
5 July 2018
5/07/18