This French 2 lesson explains venir de step by step, with examples in French and English. Then practise with the worksheet on venir de and check yourself with the quiz.
Quick answer: Venir means to come, and revenir, devenir and tenir follow the same pattern: je viens, nous venons, ils viennent. Use venir de plus an infinitive for something that just happened, and the present tense with depuis for an action that began in the past and continues now.
Level: French 2 (high school, ACTFL Novice High) · Standards: ACTFL Novice High, WL 1.1 Interpersonal, WL 1.2 Interpretive, WL 1.3 Presentational
Venir de: the lesson
How do you conjugate venir and the verbs like it?
Venir and its family
Venir means “to come.” Three verbs copy its pattern: revenir (to come back), devenir (to become) and tenir (to hold, to keep).
| Subject | venir | revenir | devenir | tenir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | viens | reviens | deviens | tiens |
| tu | viens | reviens | deviens | tiens |
| il / elle / on | vient | revient | devient | tient |
| nous | venons | revenons | devenons | tenons |
| vous | venez | revenez | devenez | tenez |
| ils / elles | viennent | reviennent | deviennent | tiennent |
What do revenir, devenir and tenir mean in a sentence?
Examples
- Nadia revient de Marseille demain. — Nadia comes back from Marseille tomorrow.
- Mon petit frère devient plus grand que moi ! — My little brother is becoming taller than me!
- Je tiens à ma guitare. — My guitar matters a lot to me.
- D’où venez-vous ? — Where do you come from?
How do you say that something just happened?
Rule: venir de + infinitive
Put venir in the present and add de plus the infinitive. Before a vowel, de becomes d’. The structure describes the immediate past.
Tu viens de rater le bus. — You just missed the bus. Ils viennent d’arriver à Lausanne. — They have just arrived in Lausanne.
Common mistake
English uses the past tense: “I just ate.” French uses the present of venir. Never write Je suis venu de manger. Also, Je viens de Dakar (place) and Je viens de manger (action) look alike, but the word after de tells you which meaning applies.
How do you say how long something has been going on?
Use the present tense with depuis: Elle joue au basket depuis cinq ans. — She has been playing basketball for five years. Nous habitons à Nantes depuis septembre. — We have lived in Nantes since September. Ask with Depuis combien de temps … ? or Depuis quand … ?
Culture note
When someone hands you an object, a French speaker often says Tiens ! (informal) or Tenez ! (formal). It literally means “hold!” and works like “Here you go!”
Zoé’s tip
To remember the stem change, picture a pair of boots: the forms with nous and vous stay outside the boot and keep the short stem ven-. Everyone else steps into the boot and gets vien-.
Key points to remember
- Present of venir: viens, viens, vient, venons, venez, viennent.
- Revenir (to come back), devenir (to become) and tenir (to hold) use the same endings.
- Venir de + infinitive describes the immediate past: Je viens de manger.
- Depuis + present tense is used where English says “have been … for.”
- Venir de followed by a place means “to come from”: Je viens de Dakar.
Coming, Returning and Just Happened: frequently asked questions
How do you say “I just arrived” in French?
Say Je viens d’arriver. Conjugate venir in the present, add de (d’ before a vowel) and then the infinitive. The sentence refers to the immediate past even though the verb is in the present.
Which verbs are conjugated like venir?
The most common are revenir (to come back), devenir (to become) and tenir (to hold). Others from the same family include retenir (to retain), obtenir (to obtain) and appartenir (to belong). They all follow the vien- and ven- pattern.
What is the difference between venir de and aller?
Venir de plus infinitive looks back at an action that has just ended. Aller plus infinitive looks ahead to an action that is about to happen. Compare Je viens de manger with Je vais manger.
How do you use depuis with the present tense?
Use the present tense for an action that started in the past and is still going on: J’étudie le français depuis deux ans. English would use “have been studying,” but French does not use a past tense here.
How do you ask where someone comes from?
Say Tu viens d’où ? (informal) or D’où venez-vous ? (formal). The answer uses Je viens de followed by the city or country, such as Je viens de Liège.