International audienceTypological studies (Bybee et al. 1994, Dahl 2000, Bourdin 2008 among many others) have shown a tendency for spatial elements (such as movement verbs) to grammaticalise into temporal expressions. The case of aller + infinitive in French is a typical success story with the periphrasis reaching the status of a future tense in many contemporary descriptions. Yet, the future value is far from exhausting the discursive uses of aller. The focus will here be on the illustrative use of the periphrasis that has been largely overlooked
