🚶🏖️

How to Say ‘I went to the seaside’ in French

Je suis allée à la mer

zhuh swee ah-LAY ah lah mair

[zhuh swee ah-LAY ah lah mair]

💬 Usage Tip: Going somewhere uses je suis, not j'ai, to talk about the past. The extra e in allée shows a woman is speaking; a man writes allé, but both sound identical.

Phrase Breakdown

Je suis allée

zhuh swee ah-LAY

I went

'Aller' takes 'être'. The extra 'e' shows the speaker is female, but it isn't pronounced.

Example

Je suis allée au cinéma.

I went to the cinema.

Words in this phrase

[zhuh]

Pronoun used by the speaker to identify themselves.

Example

Je suis content.

I am happy.

suis

[swee]

have (auxiliary)

Form of 'être' used as a helper verb to form the past tense of movement verbs.

Example

Je suis parti tôt.

I left early.

allée

[ah-LAY]

went

Feminine past participle of 'aller'; the extra -e agrees with a female speaker.

Example

Elle est allée au cinéma.

She went to the cinema.

à la mer

ah lah mair

to the seaside

The destination. Say 'a-la-mèr'.

Example

Il habite à la mer.

He lives by the sea.

Words in this phrase

[ah]

Used with infinitive verbs to indicate purpose.

Example

Elle commence à chanter.

She begins to sing.

[lah]

the

A definite article preceding a noun.

Example

La porte est ouverte.

The door is open.

mer

[mair]

sea

Feminine noun for the sea or ocean.

Example

La mer est calme ce matin.

The sea is calm this morning.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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