Venir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "to come." It is also used in some idiomatic expressions and to conjugate the recent past.
To Come
Venir means "to come" in most senses that verb is used in English.
- Il vient à midi
He's coming at noon.
Je viens de Paris
I'm from (I come from) Paris.
Veux-tu venir avec nous ?
Do you want to come with us?
Viens vite !
Come (here) quickly!
Elle ne vient jamais aux réunions
She never comes to meetings.
Expressions with Venir
Venir is used in several idiomatic expressions:
- Tu dois faire venir le médecin
You have to send for the doctor.
Dans les années à venir...
In the years to come...
De là vient que...
The result (of that) is...
Recent past
Venir is commonly used to express the recent past - the idea that one has just done something. This construction is formed with the conjugated venir + de + the infinitive of the action that has just occurred.
- Je viens d'arriver
I (have) just arrived.
Ils viennent de manger
They just ate.
Nous venons de le faire
We just did it.
(why doesn't de le contract to du? See contractions lesson)
Conjugations
Present tense
- je viens
tu viens
il vient
nous venons
vous venez
ils viennent
