49 3.15: Structure – Le verbe venir
In this section, you will learn about the verb venir.
Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.
On étudie !
| Singulier | Pluriel |
|---|---|
| je viens | nous venons |
| tu viens | vous venez |
| il, elle, on vient | ils, elles viennent |
Venir usually means “to come” (the opposite of aller), but it can mean many other things depending on the context.
(a) Venir (to come)
Qui vient ce soir ? (Who’s coming tonight?)
Il vient souvent. (He comes often.)
(b) venir + de, pour, avec (to come + from, for, with)
Je viens de Berlin. (I come, am coming from Berlin, I’m from Berlin.)
Il vient pour le livre. (He comes for the book.)
Chantal vient avec nous. (Chantal is coming with us.)
(c) Le passé récent. Venir is also used to talk about the recent past (e.g., what you have just done) with: venir de + infinitif.
Il vient de finir son examen. (He just finished his test.)
Nous venons de dîner avec Paul. (We just had dinner with Paul.)
(d) Expressions avec venir. There are also many other expressions with venir. Here are some common ones:
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
|
venir à |
to come up to, reach |
|
venir au monde |
to come into the world |
|
venir chercher |
to come get |
|
venir jusqu’à |
to come (up) to, reach |
|
venir tout seul |
to detach, unblock |
|
…à venir (e.g., dans les années à venir) |
…to come (e.g., in the years to come) |
|
aller et venir |
to come and go, to pace |
|
en venir à |
to come to, turn to, reach |
|
en venir aux coups, aux mains |
to come to blows |
|
faire venir (qqn) |
to send for (someone) |
|
y venir |
to come around, get used to |
|
Ça va venir. |
It’ll come, It’ll happen. |
|
De là vient que… |
The result (of this) is … |
|
D’où vient que … ? |
How is it that …? |
|
Les idées ne viennent pas. |
I don’t have any ideas. |
|
Où veux-tu en venir ? |
What are you getting, driving at? |
|
Une idée m’est venue (à l’esprit) |
I had an idea, Something occurred to me |
|
Viens vite ! |
Come quick! Hurry! |
On approfondit !
Use the following resources to type accents and/or search for words:
- Accents: ç, à, é, è, â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ë, ï, ü
- Dictionnaire français-anglais
