LST: French Expressions - venir de

French Expressions - venir de

Explication - venir de is an expression that means to have just done. It is called le passé récent or le passé immédiat and you learned it in French 1. It is an easy way of expressing an action that just took place in the past.

Examples of venir de + infinitive

Je viens de tomber. Aiieee ! I just fell. Ouch! Tu viens d'acheter un sandwich. You just bought a sandwhich. Il vient de se baigner. He just took a bath. Elle vient de se laver les cheveux. She just washed her hair. On vient d'arriver à la montagne. We just arrived in the mountains.

Nous venons de traverser le carrefour. We just crossed the intersection. Vous venez d'acheter un billet d'avion. You just bought a plane ticket. Ils viennent de rentrer à la maison. They just renturned home. Elles viennent de sortir. They just went out.

Review - venir de + noun

venir de + noun = to come from

• I am from the US. → Je viens des États-Unis.  
• I am coming from the library.  → Je viens de la bibliothèque.

Comparing venir de + noun and venir de + infinitive
venir de + noun	venir de + infinitive
Je viens des États-Unis. (I come from the USA.)	Je viens d'arriver en France. (I just arrived in France.)
Je viens de la bibliothèque. (I am coming from the library.)	Je viens d'étudier. (I just studied.)
Il vient de la piscine. (He is coming from the pool.)	Il vient de nager. (He just swam.)
Vous venez du cinéma. (Y'all are coming from the movies.)	Vous venez de regarder un film. (Y'all just watched a movie.)

**Don't forget the contractions with de:

• de + le = du , de l'                  
• de + la = de la , de l'
• de + les = des

 **Do you see these contractions in the first column above?

Practice Activities

Activity 1: Practice venir + de

Activity 2:

Activity 3: