Venir: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Venir means “to come”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for venir, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with venir, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.”
- “Tu viens demain matin tous les jours.” — “You come tomorrow morning every day.”
- “Je suis venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have come with us this evening this week.”
- “Il venait de Paris autrefois.” — “He used to come from Paris in the past.”
- “Nous viendrons demain matin demain.” — “We will come tomorrow morning tomorrow.”
- “Tu es venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have come with us this evening this week.”
- “Je viendrais de Paris un jour.” — “I would come from Paris one day.”
- “Il est important que il vienne demain matin.” — “It is important that he come tomorrow morning.”
- “Nous étions venu avec nous ce soir avant la fête.” — “We had come with us this evening before the party.”
- “Il viendra de Paris demain.” — “He will come from Paris tomorrow.”
- “Ils viennent demain matin tous les jours.” — “They come tomorrow morning every day.”
- “Viens avec nous ce soir !” — “Come with us this evening!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about from Paris. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how venir changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of venir below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je viendrai demain matin demain.” — “I will come tomorrow morning tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “Je suis venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have come with us this evening this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je viendrais de Paris un jour.” — “I would come from Paris one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Venir in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of venir that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, venir describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is viens: “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, venir describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is venait: “Il venait demain matin autrefois.” — “He used to come tomorrow morning in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, venir reports one finished action, built with être plus the participle venu. The je form is suis venu: “Je suis venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have come with us this evening this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, venir talks about what will happen. The nous form is viendrons: “Nous viendrons de Paris demain.” — “We will come from Paris tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, venir talks about what would happen. The tu form is viendrais: “Tu viendrais demain matin un jour.” — “You would come tomorrow morning one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, venir appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is vienne, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je vienne avec nous ce soir.” — “It is important that I come with us this evening.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je venir de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Je viens de Paris.”
The infinitive venir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form viens.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu viens de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Tu viens de Paris.”
viens is the je form. With tu you need viens. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je viens de Paris hier.”
✓ Right: “Je suis venu de Paris hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé suis venu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu viens demain matin.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu viennes demain matin.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: viennes, not the indicative viens.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je venu de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Je suis venu de Paris.”
The passé composé of venir needs the auxiliary être plus the participle venu: the full je form is suis venu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on venir. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of venir in the Present indicative?
- A) vient
- B) venons
- C) venez
- D) viens
What is the tu form of venir in the Present indicative?
- A) vient
- B) venons
- C) venez
- D) viens
What is the il/elle form of venir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) es venu
- B) sommes venu
- C) est venu
- D) suis venu
What is the nous form of venir in the Imperfect?
- A) venait
- B) veniez
- C) venions
- D) venais
What is the tu form of venir in the Future?
- A) viendras
- B) viendrai
- C) viendra
- D) viendrons
What is the je form of venir in the Conditional?
- A) viendrait
- B) viendrions
- C) viendriez
- D) viendrais
What is the il/elle form of venir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) viennes
- B) venions
- C) veniez
- D) vienne
What is the je form of venir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étais venu
- B) était venu
- C) étions venu
- D) étiez venu
What is the gerund of venir?
- A) en mettant
- B) en venant
- C) en voyant
- D) en prenant
What does venir mean in English?
- A) to put
- B) to come
- C) to see
- D) to take
Answer key
- D) viens — the je form of venir in the Present indicative is viens. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) viens — the tu form of venir in the Present indicative is viens. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) est venu — the il/elle form of venir in the Present perfect (passé composé) is est venu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) venions — the nous form of venir in the Imperfect is venions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) viendras — the tu form of venir in the Future is viendras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) viendrais — the je form of venir in the Conditional is viendrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) vienne — the il/elle form of venir in the Present subjunctive is vienne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) étais venu — the je form of venir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étais venu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en venant — the gerund of venir is en venant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to come — venir means “to come” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does venir mean in English?
venir means “to come”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is venir regular or irregular?
venir is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is venant and the past participle is venu.
How do I practise venir every day?
Say one sentence with venir in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.”, “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” and “Je viendrai de Paris demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for venir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of venir — every tense of venir in one place.
- Venir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Venir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Voir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Prendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Mettre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise venir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise venir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise venir with the interactive tool.