Venir Conjugation in French
venir means “to come” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 10 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about coming from Paris, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of venir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: venir
- English: to come
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: venant
- Past participle: venu
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
- Ending: -ir verbs; pattern venir in the verified tables
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read venir in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about venir
- It is irregular in 5 tense(s): present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use être: the present perfect is formed with être in the present plus the past participle venu. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is venant and the participle is venu: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for venir. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | viens |
| tu | viens |
| il/elle | vient |
| nous | venons |
| vous | venez |
| ils/elles | viennent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With venir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Je viens demain matin tous les jours.” — “I come tomorrow morning every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vins |
| tu | vins |
| il/elle | vint |
| nous | vînmes |
| vous | vîntes |
| ils/elles | vinrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. With venir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tu vins demain matin hier.” — “You came tomorrow morning yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | venais |
| tu | venais |
| il/elle | venait |
| nous | venions |
| vous | veniez |
| ils/elles | venaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il venait demain matin autrefois.” — “He used to come tomorrow morning in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | viendrai |
| tu | viendras |
| il/elle | viendra |
| nous | viendrons |
| vous | viendrez |
| ils/elles | viendront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je viendrai demain matin demain.” — “I will come tomorrow morning tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | viendrais |
| tu | viendrais |
| il/elle | viendrait |
| nous | viendrions |
| vous | viendriez |
| ils/elles | viendraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu viendrais demain matin un jour.” — “You would come tomorrow morning one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis venu |
| tu | es venu |
| il/elle | est venu |
| nous | sommes venu |
| vous | êtes venu |
| ils/elles | sont venu |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il est venu demain matin cette semaine.” — “He has come tomorrow morning this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais venu |
| tu | étais venu |
| il/elle | était venu |
| nous | étions venu |
| vous | étiez venu |
| ils/elles | étaient venu |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'étais venu demain matin avant la fête.” — “I had come tomorrow morning before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai venu |
| tu | seras venu |
| il/elle | sera venu |
| nous | serons venu |
| vous | serez venu |
| ils/elles | seront venu |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu seras venu demain matin pour demain.” — “You will have come tomorrow morning by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais venu |
| tu | serais venu |
| il/elle | serait venu |
| nous | serions venu |
| vous | seriez venu |
| ils/elles | seraient venu |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il serait venu demain matin hier.” — “He would have come tomorrow morning yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vienne |
| tu | viennes |
| il/elle | vienne |
| nous | venions |
| vous | veniez |
| ils/elles | viennent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With venir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Il est important que je vienne demain matin.” — “It is important that I come tomorrow morning.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vinsse |
| tu | vinsses |
| il/elle | vînt |
| nous | vinssions |
| vous | vinssiez |
| ils/elles | vinssent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu vinsses demain matin.” — “It is important that you come tomorrow morning.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | viens |
| nous | venons |
| vous | venez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With venir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Viens demain matin !” — “Come tomorrow morning!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | viens |
| nous | venons |
| vous | venez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With venir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ne viens pas demain matin.” — “Do not come tomorrow morning.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en venant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En venant de Paris, je passe un bon moment.” — “While coming from Paris, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | venu |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Je suis venu de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have come from Paris this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with venir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.”
- “Tu vins demain matin hier.” — “You came tomorrow morning yesterday.”
- “Il venait avec nous ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to come with us this evening in the past.”
- “Je viendrai de Paris demain.” — “I will come from Paris tomorrow.”
- “Tu viendrais demain matin un jour.” — “You would come tomorrow morning one day.”
- “Il est venu avec nous ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has come with us this evening this week.”
- “J'étais venu de Paris avant la fête.” — “I had come from Paris before the party.”
- “Tu seras venu demain matin pour demain.” — “You will have come tomorrow morning by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il vienne avec nous ce soir.” — “It is important that he come with us this evening.”
- “Viens de Paris !” — “Come from Paris!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form viens.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je viennent de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Je viens de Paris.”
viennent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with viens.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je vins de Paris tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.”
The passé simple vins describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present viens.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je viens de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je vienne de Paris.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use vienne here, not the indicative viens.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je ai venu de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Je suis venu de Paris.”
The passé composé of venir is formed with être plus the past participle venu: the je form is suis venu. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “viens” written without its accent
✓ Right: “viens”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on venir. Choose the right form, 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 il/elle form of venir in the Passé simple?
- A) vins
- B) vînmes
- C) vîntes
- D) vint
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 perfect (passé composé)?
- A) es venu
- B) sommes venu
- C) est venu
- D) suis venu
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 Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) vinsse
- B) vinsses
- C) vînt
- D) vinssions
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) vint — the il/elle form of venir in the Passé simple is vint. 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.
- 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.
- 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) vinsse — the je form of venir in the Imperfect subjunctive is vinsse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en venant — the gerund of venir is en venant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. 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, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is venant and the past participle is venu.
What are the gerund and past participle of venir?
The gerund is venant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is venu — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis venu.
Which auxiliary does venir take in the passé composé?
venir takes être in the passé composé: the je form is suis venu. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with être plus the past participle venu.
How do I say “I come” in French?
Say “Je viens de Paris tous les jours.” — “I come from Paris every day.” The je form of the present is viens, and it is the form you will use most often.
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 Conjugator — practise venir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise venir with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise venir with the interactive tool.