Verb · irregular
venir
to come
The thing that catches people out
venir is movement towards the speaker and ir is movement away, and Spanish holds that line more strictly than English. On the phone you say voy, I am going, where English says I am coming.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | vengo | |
| tú | vienes | |
| él, ella, usted | viene | |
| nosotros | venimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | vienen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | venís |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | vine | |
| tú | viniste | |
| él, ella, usted | vino | |
| nosotros | vinimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | vinieron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | vinisteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | venía | |
| tú | venías | |
| él, ella, usted | venía | |
| nosotros | veníamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | venían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | veníais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | vendré | |
| tú | vendrás | |
| él, ella, usted | vendrá | |
| nosotros | vendremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | vendrán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | vendréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he venido | |
| tú | has venido | |
| él, ella, usted | ha venido | |
| nosotros | hemos venido | |
| ellos, ustedes | han venido | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis venido |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | viniendo | |
| participle | venido | |
| command, to tú | ven | |
| command, to usted | venga |
In a sentence
vengo de Inglaterra
I am coming from England
¿vienes conmigo?
are you coming with me?