Andare & Venire in Italian

Overview

Andare (to go) and venire (to come) are two of the most essential verbs in Italian, and you will use them from your very first conversations. They describe movement — andare for going somewhere, venire for coming toward the speaker or listener. Both are irregular, meaning they do not follow the standard -ARE or -IRE conjugation patterns.

At the A1 level, mastering these two verbs opens up a huge range of everyday communication: talking about where you are going, inviting someone to come along, describing your daily commute, and making plans. Because they are irregular, you need to memorize their forms individually rather than applying a pattern.

The good news is that andare and venire are used so frequently that they will quickly become second nature. Pay special attention to the difference between the two — it is not always the same as "go" and "come" in English.

How It Works

Conjugation of andare (to go)

Person	Conjugation
io	vado
tu	vai
lui/lei/Lei	va
noi	andiamo
voi	andate
loro	vanno

Conjugation of venire (to come)

Person	Conjugation
io	vengo
tu	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	viene
noi	veniamo
voi	venite
loro	vengono

When to use andare vs venire

The key difference is about direction relative to the speaker:

• Andare = movement away from the speaker (or to a place where neither speaker nor listener is currently located)
• Venire = movement toward the speaker (or toward the listener)

This is different from English, where "come" can be used for movement toward either the speaker or the listener. In Italian, if you are going to where the other person is, you use venire; if you are going elsewhere, you use andare.

Common preposition patterns

Pattern	Meaning	Example
andare a + place	to go to	Vado a scuola.
andare in + country/large area	to go to	Andiamo in Italia.
andare da + person	to go to someone's place	Vai da Marco?
venire a + place	to come to	Vieni a casa mia?
venire da + origin	to come from	Vengo da Londra.
venire con + person	to come with	Viene con noi?

Examples in Context

Italian	English	Note
Vado al lavoro ogni mattina.	I go to work every morning.	andare + a + il = al
Dove vai stasera?	Where are you going tonight?	2nd person informal
Maria va a scuola in autobus.	Maria goes to school by bus.	3rd person singular
Andiamo al cinema sabato?	Shall we go to the cinema on Saturday?	Suggestion with noi
I ragazzi vanno in spiaggia.	The boys are going to the beach.	3rd person plural
Vengo subito!	I'm coming right away!	Movement toward listener
Vieni alla festa domani?	Are you coming to the party tomorrow?	Invitation
Marco viene da Napoli.	Marco comes from Naples.	Origin
Veniamo a trovarti domenica.	We are coming to visit you on Sunday.	Movement toward listener
Vengono anche loro?	Are they coming too?	3rd person plural
Vado in Italia quest'estate.	I'm going to Italy this summer.	andare + in + country
Vai da Luigi dopo la scuola?	Are you going to Luigi's after school?	andare + da + person

Common Mistakes

Applying regular conjugation patterns

• Wrong: Io ando al parco.
• Right: Io vado al parco.
• Why: Andare is irregular. The io form is "vado," not ando. Similarly, "vanno" (not andano) is used for loro.

Confusing andare and venire

• Wrong: Vado da te domani. (when speaking to the person you are visiting)
• Right: Vengo da te domani.
• Why: When moving toward the listener, use venire. Andare implies movement away from both speaker and listener.

Forgetting the preposition change

• Wrong: Vado a Italia.
• Right: Vado in Italia.
• Why: With countries and regions, Italian uses "in" (not "a"). Use "a" with cities: Vado a Roma.

Mixing up venire forms

• Wrong: Loro vengano alla festa.
• Right: Loro vengono alla festa.
• Why: The loro form of venire is "vengono." The form vengano is actually the subjunctive — a different mood entirely.

Practice Tips

1. Practice both conjugation tables out loud every day for a week. Focus on the irregular forms (vado/vai/va/vanno and vengo/vieni/viene/vengono) — the noi and voi forms follow more predictable patterns.
2. Whenever you describe your daily routine, use andare and venire: "Vado al lavoro, vado al supermercato, vengo a casa." This repetition builds the forms into your muscle memory.
3. Pay attention to the speaker's perspective in Italian dialogues. When someone on the phone says "Vengo da te," notice how it differs from English where you might say "I'll come to you" or "I'll go to you."

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -ARE Verbs — the standard conjugation pattern that andare deviates from
• Next steps: Fare (to do/make) — another essential irregular verb
• Next steps: Articulated Prepositions — needed for combinations like "al" (a + il), "alla" (a + la)