Venir (to come) in French

Overview

The verb venir (to come) is an essential irregular verb that you will encounter early in your A1 studies. Its conjugation features a stem change — vien- in the singular and third person plural, and ven- in the nous and vous forms — which is a pattern shared by several related verbs.

Beyond expressing movement toward the speaker, venir has an important grammatical function: combined with de + infinitive, it forms the recent past (passé récent), allowing you to say things like je viens de manger (I just ate). This is one of the simplest ways to talk about the immediate past in French.

Several common French verbs are built on the same root as venir — including devenir (to become), revenir (to come back), and tenir (to hold) — and they all follow the same conjugation pattern, making venir a gateway to a whole family of useful verbs.

How It Works

Present Tense Conjugation

Subject	Conjugation
je	viens
tu	viens
il / elle / on	vient
nous	venons
vous	venez
ils / elles	viennent

Venir de + Infinitive (Recent Past)

French	English
Je viens de manger.	I just ate.
Elle vient de partir.	She just left.
Nous venons d'arriver.	We just arrived.

Related Verbs (Same Pattern)

Verb	English	Example
devenir	to become	Il devient célèbre.
revenir	to come back	Je reviens dans cinq minutes.
tenir	to hold	Tu tiens le sac.
obtenir	to obtain	Nous obtenons le visa.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je viens de Londres.	I come from London.	Origin
D'où viens-tu ?	Where do you come from?	Question
Il vient avec nous.	He's coming with us.	Accompaniment
Nous venons à la fête.	We're coming to the party.	Event
Ils viennent demain.	They're coming tomorrow.	Future plan
Je viens de finir.	I just finished.	Recent past
Elle **vient d'**appeler.	She just called.	Recent past + vowel
Tu viens souvent ici ?	Do you come here often?	Frequency
Nous venons de déménager.	We just moved.	Recent past
Il devient difficile.	It's becoming difficult.	Related verb: devenir

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the stem change

• Wrong: Je vens de Paris.
• Right: Je viens de Paris.
• Why: The singular and ils/elles forms use the stem vien-, not ven-. Only nous and vous use ven-.

Confusing "venir de" (recent past) with "venir de" (origin)

• Wrong: Translating Je viens de Paris as "I just Paris"
• Right: Context determines meaning: Je viens de Paris = I come from Paris. Je viens de manger = I just ate.
• Why: When followed by a place, venir de means "from." When followed by an infinitive, it means "just did."

Using "venir" for "to come" in the sense of "to arrive"

• Wrong: Je viens à huit heures. (when meaning "I'll arrive")
• Right: J'arrive à huit heures. (or Je viens à huit heures if someone invited you)
• Why: Venir implies coming toward someone; arriver is better for simply stating an arrival time.

Practice Tips

1. Practice the recent past in daily life: after each activity, describe it with venir de: Je viens de me lever. Je viens de prendre le petit-déjeuner. Je viens de sortir.
2. Conjugate venir alongside devenir and revenir to see how the same stem-change pattern applies across the verb family. This triples your payoff from one conjugation pattern.

Related Concepts

• Regular -ER Verbs — the main regular verb group for comparison
• Recent Past — venir de + infinitive for "just did"