The verb IR A
El verbo "ir a" - the verb to go to
We will learn to conjugate and use another irregular verb. The verb to go/ir can be use for announcing where you are going to or what you are going to do (near future). First, let's review the conjugations of the verb ir.
Lets review what we learned:
1) Where to?
When do you use ¿Adónde? or ¿Dónde?
¿Dónde? Where?
¿Adónde? To where?
¿Dónde? as an interrogative word means ‘where’ and is used to ask a question about the location of an object, place, person etc. or where an action takes (or took) place.
¿Adónde? is the form used when there is ‘movement’ or ‘movement towards’ a place. If there is no movement ‘adónde should not be used. ¿Adónde? is always used with the verb to go.
Examples:
¿Adónde vamos mañana? (to)Where are you going tomorrow?
Mañana vamos a la fiesta.
¿Adónde vas? Where are you going to?
Voy a casa. I am going home.
2) IR+A+INFINITIVE- TO EXPRESS NEAR FUTURE
We will continue to practice the verb to go to express a future action, that is, what someone is going to do (near future). The construction ir +a + infinitive is the English equivalent to be going to + infinitive.
Note: We never conjugate both verbs when expressing the near future.
3) contractions
The verb to go/ir is often used with the preposition a (to). When the preposition a is followed by the definitive article el, they combine to form the contraction al. As you can see on the examples below.
Here is a good visual
La Canción de Ir - Gisela Galván-Ríos - Spanish Grammar
Práctica
1) Everyone in your neighborhood is going off to various places. Say where they are going. (ir+a+infinitive) a+el =al
La señora Smith/el centro La señora Smith va a ir al centro.
Las hermanas Perez/la piscina
Tu novio y tu padre/el partido de fútbol
Nosotros/el restaurante Molcajete
Yo/ el Museo de arte Moderno
Sara/el parque
2) Write 10 sentences describing what you and your family are going to do over the weekend; you can also write what you are not going to do.
a) Use different subjects in your sentences (yo, mis amigos y yo, nosotros, etc.,)
Ex. Yo voy a visitar a mis abuelos. (I am going to visit my grandparents)
b)You can use any of the following verbs below or choose your own:
comer dormir comprar
trabajar estudiar escuchar música
mirar cocinar viajar
hablar escribir practicar deportes
Also the song by Marc Anthony Voy a vivir.