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All about Venir

Everything you need to know about the irregular French verb venir

By , About.com Guide

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
All tenses

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