Venir handles arrival and origin: viens avec moi, je viens de Belgique, elle vient nous chercher. Its second job is temporal. Where English says “I've just finished,” French says je viens de finir, using venir in the present to describe the immediate past. That construction is common in speech and has no other equivalent, so you meet it early. Venir is also the model for a large family: revenir, devenir, prévenir, se souvenir and the tenir group all follow the same table.
Venir alternates between two stems in the present: vien- in the singular and third person plural (je viens, il vient, ils viennent, with a doubled n in the last), and ven- in nous venons and vous venez. The imperfect keeps ven- throughout (je venais, nous venions). The future and conditional insert a d that is not in the infinitive: je viendrai, je viendrais. The subjunctive splits exactly like the present, giving que je vienne but que nous venions, and the past participle is venu.
Venir takes être in compound tenses, so the participle agrees with the subject: il est venu, elle est venue, ils sont venus, elles sont venues. Careful with the family: revenir and devenir also take être, but tenir, obtenir and prévenir take avoir (j'ai prévenu les voisins).
Venir in context
Présent
Tu viens avec nous ce soir ? Are you coming with us tonight?
Imparfait
Ils venaient dîner chez nous tous les dimanches. They used to come over for dinner every Sunday.
Passé composé
Elle est venue en train depuis Marseille. She came by train from Marseille.
Futur simple
Nous viendrons vous chercher à la gare. We'll come and pick you up at the station.
Subjonctif présent
Il faut que vous veniez signer les papiers. You need to come and sign the paperwork.
Common mistakes with venir
Using avoir in the passé composé
✗ J'ai venu hier soir.
✓ Je suis venu hier soir. — I came last night.
Venir is a core être verb, and the participle then agrees with the subject: je suis venue if you are female, nous sommes venus for a mixed group. The related verb tenir does take avoir, which is what makes the family confusing.
Putting the passé récent in the past
✗ Je suis venu de finir mon travail.
✓ Je viens de finir mon travail. — I've just finished my work.
Venir de plus an infinitive means something happened a moment ago, and venir stays in the present to say so. Put venir in the imperfect and the meaning shifts to a past reference point: je venais de finir quand il est arrivé.
Doubling the n in nous venons
✗ Nous viennons demain matin.
✓ Nous venons demain matin. — We're coming tomorrow morning.
The double n and the ie appear only where the ending is silent: je viens, ils viennent, que je vienne. The nous and vous forms fall back to the plain stem: nous venons, vous venez, and likewise nous venions in the imperfect.
Expressions with venir
venir de + infinitif
to have just done something
venir chercher quelqu'un
to come and pick someone up
faire venir
to send for, to have someone come
à venir
upcoming, forthcoming
d'où viens-tu ?
where are you from?
en venir aux mains
to come to blows
Frequently asked questions
Is venir an irregular verb?
Yes. It is a third-group verb with two present stems (vien- and ven-) and a future stem that adds a d out of nowhere: je viendrai. Its whole family behaves the same way, including revenir, devenir, prévenir, se souvenir, tenir and obtenir.
Does venir take avoir or être?
Être, so the passé composé is je suis venu(e) and the participle agrees with the subject: elle est venue, ils sont venus. The verbs built on tenir take avoir instead (j'ai tenu, j'ai obtenu), and prévenir does too, which is a common trip-up inside the same family.
What is the past participle of venir?
It is venu, with the feminine venue and the plurals venus and venues. Because the verb takes être, you have to choose the right ending every time: elles sont venues sans prévenir. The related noun la venue (the arrival) is spelled the same way.
What does venir de mean?
Two things, told apart by what follows. Before a place name it means to come from: je viens de Lille. Before an infinitive it forms the passé récent, meaning something has just happened: il vient de partir, nous venons de manger.
What is the difference between venir and aller?
Venir is movement towards the speaker or the person being addressed, aller is movement away towards a destination. If a friend calls you over, you answer je viens, not je vais. French is stricter about this than English, which lets you say “I'm coming” in either direction.