Venir Conjugation in All 8 Tenses

Venir in French is one of the most frequently used verbs. The meaning of venir is “to come” or “to come from (in the case of a place)”.

This article gives you venir conjugations in the most common indicative tenses of the French language, as well as some hints on how you would use them in everyday speech. This article will also help you to learn correct grammar so your speech and communication skills in French become top notch!

Why only the 8 indicative tenses? Because those are the tenses you’ll hear when practicing your French! There are 13 other tenses but they have more to do with mood and intent. On top of that they’re rarely used, so even if you’re an intermediate or advanced French learner then the indicative 8 are ALL you need!

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French Tenses for Venir Conjugation

1. Présent. Something that is happening now. This can either be ongoing or instant. Eg: I come. / I’m coming.
2. Imparfait (imperfect). Used to describe ongoing, continual or habitual past events. Eg: I was coming.
3. Passé simple is not common and normally found in formal or literary contexts. If you’re a beginner or even intermediate French learner then you can safely ignore it for now (but it’s still included below for convenience). Eg: I came
4. Passé composé. Widely used to talk about completed past actions. Eg: I came.
5. Futur simple (simple future) is used when you intend to describe a general future state of being. Eg: I will come. Once again, beginners can generally ignore this conjugation as there’s a much simpler version (next in list) that will suffice for now.
6. Futur proche (near future) describes an upcoming action. In English this would be “I am going to come …“. This should be your go to future tense when learning conjugations.
7. Plus-que-parfait (pluperfect). This tense indicates that an action had taken place and was completed before another past action took place. Eg: I came before eating my meal. 
8. Passé antérieur is not common at all (just like passé simple), and again is found in formal or literary contexts. Eg: I had come.
9. Futur antérieur (future perfect) is used to describe a future action that will be completed in the future before another action is started. For example: I will have come before eating breakfast.

Mastering venir conjugation in at least 3 tenses (present, passé composé and futur proche is essential for becoming proficient in French. In fact I would concentrate on these 3 and only study the others when they come up in literature or other contexts.

The following tables also give usage examples of venir used in its respective tense.

Venir Présent Conjugation (Present)

Présent definition: The Présent tense is used to describe actions or states that are happening at the current moment or are generally true. It is the most frequently used tense in all languages. Note that French doesn’t have the present continuous verb tense like in English. Hence, “I come” and “I am coming” both translate to je viens.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	viens	I come
Tu	viens	You come
Il/Elle	vient	He/She comes
Nous	venons	We come
Vous	venez	You come
Ils/Elles	viennent	They come

Example sentences:

1. Je viens de Paris. (I come from Paris.)
2. Tu viens toujours en retard. (You always come late.)
3. Elle vient au cinéma avec nous. (She’s coming to the movies with us.)

Venir Imparfait Conjugation (Imperfect)

Imparfait definition: The Imparfait tense is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions from the past. It is commonly used to set the background for other actions in the past. In everyday French it is used to talk about past events or actions that were ongoing. Imparfait is also used to talk about feelings, attitudes, time & date and the weather. In English you may hear this said as “used to”. Eg: I used to come

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	venais	I used to come
Tu	venais	You used to come
Il/Elle	venait	He/She used to come
Nous	venions	We used to come
Vous	veniez	You used to come
Ils/Elles	venaient	They used to come

Example sentences:

1. Je venais te voir tous les jours. (I used to come see you every day.)
2. Tu venais toujours avec ton frère. (You used to come always with your brother.)
3. Nous venions en train. (We used to come by train.)

Venir Passé Simple Conjugation (Simple Past)

Passé Simple definition: The Passé Simple manger conjugation is primarily used in written literature, especially within narrative texts such as novels, stories, and historical accounts. In everyday spoken language, the Passé Simple is rarely used but you will see it everywhere in the aforementioned literary works. In meaning there is virtually no difference between this tense and the Passé Composé. Eg: I came.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	vins	I came
Tu	vins	You came
Il/Elle	vint	He/She came
Nous	vînmes	We came
Vous	vîntes	You came
Ils/Elles	vinrent	They came

Example sentences:

1. Je vins dès que j’entendis l’annonce. (I came as soon as I heard the announcement.)
2. Vous vîntes à la fête hier soir. (You came to the party last night.)
3. Ils vinrent nous aider à déménager. (They came to help us move.)

Venir Passé Composé Conjugation (Present Perfect)

Passé Composé definition: The Passé Composé tense is used to talk about completed actions in the past. It is one of the most common past tenses and is frequently used in everyday French language. The key fact you need when deciding to use this tense is to ask if the past action have a start and finish in the past. If yes, then Passé Composé is the tense you need! The literal translation is “I have come” but in English we normally shorten this to “I came“.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
J’ai	venu	I have come
Tu as	venu	You have come
Il/Elle a	venu	He/She has come
Nous avons	venu	We have come
Vous avez	venu	You have come
Ils/Elles ont	venu	They have come

Example sentences:

1. J’ai venu te rendre visite hier. (I came to visit you yesterday.)
2. Tu es venu à la réunion ce matin. (You came to the meeting this morning.)
3. Nous sommes venus en avance pour éviter le trafic. (We came early to avoid traffic.)

Venir Futur Simple Conjugation (Simple Future)

Futur simple definition: The futur simple is used to express an action that will happen in the future. It is commonly used in everyday language when talking about general future plans or intentions. If you find this tense complicated then you can always just use the “aller” form in the next section “futur proche”.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	viendrai	I will come
Tu	viendras	You will come
Il/Elle	viendra	He/She will come
Nous	viendrons	We will come
Vous	viendrez	You will come
Ils/Elles	viendront	They will come

Example sentences:

1. Je viendrai te chercher demain. (I will come to pick you up tomorrow.)
2. Est-ce que tu viendras à la fête samedi ? (Will you come to the party on Saturday?)
3. Ils viendront nous rendre visite pendant les vacances. (They will come to visit us during the holidays.)

Venir Futur Proche Conjugation (Near Future)

Futur Proche definition: This is known as the “going to [come]” future tense. It is used to express actions that are planned or about to happen in the near future. It is very commonly used in everyday spoken French. Technically it is not an official tense but is often listed as one.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	vais venir	I am going to come
Tu	vas venir	You are going to come
Il/Elle	va venir	He/She is going to come
Nous	allons venir	We are going to come
Vous	allez venir	You are going to come
Ils/Elles	vont venir	They are going to come

Example sentences:

1. Je vais venir te voir tout de suite. (I am going to come see you right away.)
2. Est-ce que tu vas venir à la réunion demain ? (Are you going to come to the meeting tomorrow?)
3. Nous allons venir t’aider avec tes devoirs. (We are going to come help you with your homework.)

Venir Plus-que-parfait Conjugation (Pluperfect)

Plus-que-parfait definition: Expresses an action that had happened before some other past action took place. It is commonly used in written language, especially in literature and formal texts.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
J’avais	venu	I had come
Tu avais	venu	You had come
Il/Elle avait	venu	He/She had come
Nous avions	venu	We had come
Vous aviez	venu	You had come
Ils/Elles avaient	venu	They had come

Example sentences:

1. J’avais déjà venu ici auparavant. (I had already come here before.)
2. Tu avais venu me voir quand j’étais malade. (You had come to see me when I was sick.)
3. Ils avaient venu nous rendre visite l’année dernière. (They had come to visit us last year.)

Venir Passé Antérieur Conjugation (Past Anterior)

Passé Antérieur definition: This tense is a literary tense used in formal and historical writing. It is similar in meaning to the Plus-que-parfait tense (Pluperfect) but is considered more archaic and is mostly found in classical literature. As a French speaker you will hardly ever (if at all) use this tense!

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
J’eus	venu	I had come
Tu eus	venu	You had come
Il/Elle eut	venu	He/She had come
Nous eûmes	venu	We had come
Vous eûtes	venu	You had come
Ils/Elles eurent	venu	They had come

Example sentences:

1. J’eus venu dès que j’ai entendu la nouvelle. (I had come as soon as I heard the news.)
2. Vous eûtes venu nous aider si vous aviez su. (You would have come to help us if you had known.)
3. Elle eut venu avant que la fête ne se termine. (She had come before the party ended.)

Venir Futur Antérieur Conjugation (Future Perfect)

Futur Antérieur definition: This tense is used to express actions that will have been completed before a specific future point in time. In fact that preceding sentence is an exact example of it, using the phrase “will have been”. It is used both in written and spoken language.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Translation
J’aurai	venu	I will have come
Tu auras	venu	You will have come
Il/Elle aura	venu	He/She will have come
Nous aurons	venu	We will have come
Vous aurez	venu	You will have come
Ils/Elles auront	venu	They will have come

Example sentences:

1. J’aurai venu dès que tu m’auras appelé. (I will have come as soon as you call me.)
2. Tu auras venu chercher ton colis demain matin. (You will have come to pick up your package tomorrow morning.)
3. Ils auront venu nous rendre visite avant de partir. (They will have come to visit us before leaving.)

Wrap Up

Venir conjugation isn’t too difficult to learn as long as you stick to present, futur proche and imparfait tenses. You can safely ignore the others for now (but do come back when you’re happily proficient in French).

If you’d like to read more about French verbs, conjugation and tenses then check out this article on how to master French verb conjugations. Lot’s of great tips in there if you’re struggling!

Alternatively let us do the hard work of analysing your French texts by using our free tool! It even picks up venir conjugation mistakes!

Venir Conjugation Table Images (FREE to Download)

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