Venir in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Venir means “to come”, and this page covers exactly one thing: venir in the passé composé. The passé composé is the tense French speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full passé composé table for venir, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about venir in the passé composé. For example: “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have come from Paris this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of venir exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Venir in the Passé composé Tense — full table

Person Form
je suis venu
tu es venu
il/elle est venu
nous sommes venu
vous êtes venu
ils/elles sont venu

Gerund: venant · Past participle: venu

The gerund is venant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is venu, which you use with être in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is suis venu, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passé composé is only one part of how venir is used.

How the passé composé of venir is formed

The passé composé of venir is formed with the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle venu: the auxiliary forms are je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the je form is suis venu and the ils form is sont venu. The participle venu never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the masculine singular form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because venir takes être as its auxiliary, it belongs to the group of verbs of movement and change of state that form their perfect tenses with être. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for être, not avoir, and then add venu.

The same participle venu appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “être + venu” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of venir.

When to use the passé composé of venir

The passé composé is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use venir in the passé composé most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Coming from Paris — finished

When the action of coming from Paris is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have come from Paris this week.”

2. Coming tomorrow morning — finished

The same rule applies to coming tomorrow morning: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu es venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “You have come tomorrow morning this week.”

3. Coming with us this evening — finished

A third everyday situation is coming with us this evening, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il est venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has come with us this evening this week.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The passé composé is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain passé composé forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Nous sommes venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “We have come from Paris this week.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The passé composé also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as hier, la semaine dernière or ce matin, the passé composé is the natural choice. Example: “Vous êtes venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “You have come tomorrow morning this week.”

Passé Composé vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passé composé is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action, while the passé composé describes one finished action. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passé composé sentences use words such as tous les jours or hier, while the imperfect sentences use autrefois or quand. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

  • Passé composé: “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have come from Paris this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je venais de Paris autrefois.” — “I used to come from Paris in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Tu es venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “You have come tomorrow morning this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu venais demain matin autrefois.” — “You used to come tomorrow morning in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Nous sommes venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “We have come with us this evening this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous venions avec nous ce soir autrefois.” — “We used to come with us this evening in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: venir in the passé composé

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Je suis venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “I have come tomorrow morning this week.”

  2. “Tu es venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have come with us this evening this week.”

  3. “Il est venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “He has come from Paris this week.”

  4. “Nous sommes venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “We have come tomorrow morning this week.”

  5. “Vous êtes venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have come with us this evening this week.”

  6. “Ils sont venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “They have come from Paris this week.”

  7. “Je suis venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “I have come tomorrow morning this week.”

  8. “Tu es venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have come with us this evening this week.”

Common mistakes with venir in the passé composé

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Je viens de Paris hier.” Right: “Je suis venu de Paris hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis venu, not the present viens. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je suis venu de Paris tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé suis venu describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present viens.

  • Wrong: “Je être de Paris.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je suis venu de Paris.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary être and the participle venu. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je venais de Paris hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je suis venu de Paris hier.” Why: The imperfect venais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis venu.

Quiz: venir in the passé composé

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Je ______ demain matin.”

  • (A) est venu
  • (B) sommes venu
  • (C) suis venu
  • (D) es venu

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ avec nous ce soir.”

  • (A) est venu
  • (B) sommes venu
  • (C) es venu
  • (D) suis venu

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ de Paris.”

  • (A) es venu
  • (B) sommes venu
  • (C) est venu
  • (D) suis venu

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ demain matin.”

  • (A) es venu
  • (B) est venu
  • (C) sommes venu
  • (D) suis venu

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ avec nous ce soir.”

  • (A) êtes venu
  • (B) suis venu
  • (C) es venu
  • (D) est venu

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ de Paris.”

  • (A) es venu
  • (B) est venu
  • (C) sont venu
  • (D) suis venu

7. What does venir mean in English?

  • (A) to put
  • (B) to come
  • (C) to see
  • (D) to take

8. What is the past participle of venir?

  • (A) pris
  • (B) mis
  • (C) venu
  • (D) vu

Answer key

  1. C) suis venu — The je form is suis venu.
  2. C) es venu — The tu form is es venu.
  3. C) est venu — The il/elle form is est venu.
  4. C) sommes venu — The nous form is sommes venu.
  5. A) êtes venu — The vous form is êtes venu.
  6. C) sont venu — The ils/elles form is sont venu.
  7. B) to come — venir means “to come”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. C) venu — The past participle of venir is venu; the passé composé is formed with être + venu.

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of venir formed?

With the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle venu: je suis venu, tu es venu, il est venu, nous sommes venu, vous êtes venu, ils sont venu.

When do I use the passé composé of venir?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have come from Paris this week.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the imperfect instead.

What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect of venir?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” with “Je venais de Paris autrefois.” — the first is finished, the second is ongoing in the past.

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