Arriver is among the first verbs an English speaker meets, because at first glance the meaning lines up cleanly: arrive. But arriver in French is several verbs sewn together. It is the verb for arriving at a place. It is the verb for happening as an event (qu'est-ce qui s'est passé ? — il m'est arrivé un truc bizarre). And it is the verb of managing to do something: je n'arrive pas à dormir — I can't get to sleep / I can't manage to sleep. Mastering arriver is mastering three high-frequency patterns at once.
It is a fully regular -er verb (1er groupe, no orthographic adjustments), and it sits inside the maison d'être — its compound tenses use être with subject agreement on the past participle. This page covers every paradigm and every major use.
The simple tenses
The stem arriv- is invariant. There are no spelling changes anywhere in the paradigm — arriver is one of the cleanest verbs in French.
Présent de l'indicatif
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | arrive | /a.ʁiv/ |
| tu | arrives | /a.ʁiv/ |
| il / elle / on | arrive | /a.ʁiv/ |
| nous | arrivons | /a.ʁi.vɔ̃/ |
| vous | arrivez | /a.ʁi.ve/ |
| ils / elles | arrivent | /a.ʁiv/ |
Because arriver begins with a vowel, je always elides to j' (j'arrive, never je arrive). The four singular and 3pl forms are pronounced identically (/a.ʁiv/).
J'arrive dans cinq minutes, je suis devant le café.
I'll be there in five minutes, I'm in front of the café.
Le train arrive à 14h32, voie B.
The train arrives at 2:32 p.m., platform B.
On arrive ! Mets la table, s'il te plaît.
We're almost there! Set the table, please.
The lone-utterance J'arrive ! is everyday French for "I'm coming!" / "Be right there!" — said when someone calls you, knocks, or you need to signal you're on your way.
Imparfait
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | arrivais |
| tu | arrivais |
| il / elle / on | arrivait |
| nous | arrivions |
| vous | arriviez |
| ils / elles | arrivaient |
Quand j'étais petit, on arrivait toujours à la mer en pleine nuit.
When I was little, we always used to arrive at the sea in the middle of the night.
Elle arrivait à peine à marcher après l'opération.
She could barely walk after the operation.
The second example previews the arriver à + infinitif construction discussed below — in the imperfect, it expresses an ongoing inability.
Passé simple (literary)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | arrivai |
| tu | arrivas |
| il / elle / on | arriva |
| nous | arrivâmes |
| vous | arrivâtes |
| ils / elles | arrivèrent |
The passé simple is (literary). You'll meet it in novels and history textbooks: Napoléon arriva à Moscou en septembre 1812. In conversation, always use the passé composé.
Futur simple and conditionnel présent
Built on the full infinitive arriver-.
| Person | Futur simple | Conditionnel |
|---|---|---|
| j' | arriverai | arriverais |
| tu | arriveras | arriverais |
| il / elle / on | arrivera | arriverait |
| nous | arriverons | arriverions |
| vous | arriverez | arriveriez |
| ils / elles | arriveront | arriveraient |
Tu arriveras vers quelle heure, samedi soir ?
What time will you get there Saturday evening?
Sans toi, je n'y arriverais jamais.
Without you, I'd never manage it.
Subjonctif présent
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| que j' | arrive |
| que tu | arrives |
| qu'il / elle / on | arrive |
| que nous | arrivions |
| que vous | arriviez |
| qu'ils / elles | arrivent |
Il faut qu'on arrive avant 18 heures, sinon les portes seront fermées.
We need to get there before 6 p.m., otherwise the doors will be closed.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | arrive |
| nous | arrivons |
| vous | arrivez |
The bare imperative Arrive ! is rare; you'll mostly meet Arrivez à l'heure ! (Be on time!) and similar phrasings. The tu form drops the final -s of the present indicative, like all -er verbs.
The compound tenses — auxiliary ÊTRE
Arriver takes être in compound tenses. The past participle arrivé agrees with the subject in gender and number.
Past participle: arrivé(e)(s)
| Subject gender / number | Past participle |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | arrivé |
| feminine singular | arrivée |
| masculine plural | arrivés |
| feminine plural | arrivées |
All four are pronounced identically (/a.ʁi.ve/) — agreement is purely orthographic.
Passé composé
Je suis arrivée chez mes parents vers minuit.
I got to my parents' place around midnight. (feminine speaker)
Mes amis sont arrivés en avance, c'était presque gênant.
My friends arrived early — it was almost awkward.
Elle est arrivée avec une heure de retard et personne n'était surpris.
She arrived an hour late and nobody was surprised.
Notice the agreement on each past participle: je suis arrivée (f.sg.), mes amis sont arrivés (m.pl.), elle est arrivée (f.sg.).
Plus-que-parfait, futur antérieur, conditionnel passé
| Tense | Form (3sg masc) |
|---|---|
| plus-que-parfait | il était arrivé |
| futur antérieur | il sera arrivé |
| conditionnel passé | il serait arrivé |
| passé du subjonctif | qu'il soit arrivé |
Quand on est entrés, le café était déjà arrivé sur la table.
When we came in, the coffee had already arrived on the table.
Dès que tu seras arrivé, appelle-moi.
As soon as you've arrived, call me.
Arriver à + infinitif: manage to / be able to
This is the construction that most surprises English speakers. Arriver à + infinitive means manage to do, succeed in doing, be able to do (in the sense of physically or practically pulling something off). It is one of the most common ways French expresses the everyday "I can't" / "I'm not able to."
Je n'arrive pas à dormir, je tourne dans le lit depuis une heure.
I can't get to sleep, I've been turning over in bed for an hour.
Tu arrives à ouvrir cette boîte ? Moi, j'abandonne.
Are you managing to open this jar? I give up.
Elle est arrivée à convaincre son patron de la laisser partir plus tôt.
She managed to convince her boss to let her leave earlier.
On n'arrive pas à se décider entre la Grèce et l'Italie pour cet été.
We can't decide between Greece and Italy for this summer.
The negative je n'arrive pas à... is so frequent that French speakers reach for it where English speakers say "I can't." If you find yourself saying je ne peux pas dormir, switch to je n'arrive pas à dormir — it sounds far more natural in everyday speech.
The same construction also handles success: j'y arrive ! (I'm getting it!) is what a French speaker says while figuring something out. J'y suis arrivé (I did it) is the triumphant past form.
Après trois essais, j'y suis arrivé !
After three tries, I made it / I got it!
Arriver + indirect object: happen to
The third major use is arriver with an indirect object meaning happen to someone. Here arriver takes a personal indirect object (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur) and the thing that happens is the grammatical subject.
Qu'est-ce qui m'arrive ? Je n'arrive plus à respirer normalement.
What's happening to me? I can't breathe normally anymore.
Il lui est arrivé un accident sur l'autoroute hier soir.
He had an accident on the highway last night.
Ça arrive à tout le monde, ne t'inquiète pas.
It happens to everyone, don't worry.
Il m'arrive de penser à elle, mais c'est de plus en plus rare.
I sometimes think of her, but it happens less and less.
The last example shows the productive idiom il m'arrive de + infinitif, meaning I sometimes / it happens that I. This is everyday French for occasional behavior — there is no clean English equivalent.
Il nous arrive de regarder un film en pleine semaine.
We sometimes watch a movie in the middle of the week.
Il lui arrive de dire des choses qu'elle regrette aussitôt.
She sometimes says things she immediately regrets.
The construction is impersonal: the subject is the dummy il, the experiencer is an indirect-object pronoun, and what happens is a de + infinitive complement.
Other high-frequency uses
Coming to / reaching a level: arriver à a place, height, age, conclusion.
Le niveau de l'eau arrive aux genoux maintenant.
The water level is up to our knees now.
On est arrivés à la conclusion qu'il fallait tout recommencer.
We came to the conclusion that we had to start over.
Being on time / arriving early or late: arriver à temps, arriver à l'heure, arriver en retard, arriver en avance.
Si on prend ce train, on arrivera à temps pour le mariage.
If we take this train, we'll get there in time for the wedding.
Je suis arrivé en retard à mon premier cours, je n'ai pas osé entrer.
I was late for my first class — I didn't dare go in.
The threatening / warning use: Tu vas arriver ! (Are you coming or what?), Ça va t'arriver (That's going to happen to you).
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai arrivé à 8 heures.
Incorrect — arriver takes être, not avoir.
✅ Je suis arrivé(e) à 8 heures.
I arrived at 8.
❌ Je ne peux pas trouver mes clés.
Awkward — French speakers say 'arriver à' for inability to do something.
✅ Je n'arrive pas à trouver mes clés.
I can't find my keys.
❌ Je suis arrivé en Paris hier.
Incorrect — arriver à before cities, not 'en'.
✅ Je suis arrivé à Paris hier.
I arrived in Paris yesterday.
❌ Qu'est-ce qui m'arrive de mal ?
Awkward — the natural phrasing is 'qu'est-ce qui m'arrive ?' alone, or 'il m'arrive quelque chose de mal.'
✅ Qu'est-ce qui m'arrive ?
What's happening to me?
❌ J'arrive arriver à le faire.
Incorrect — arriver à takes a bare infinitive, not a conjugated verb.
✅ J'arrive à le faire.
I can manage it / I'm able to do it.
The auxiliary error (j'ai arrivé) is the single most common mistake — drill je suis arrivé(e) until automatic. The preposition error after arriver à + infinitive is also frequent: it is always à, never de or pour.
Arriver with prepositions: a quick map
| Preposition | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| arriver à + place | arrive at, reach | arriver à Paris |
| arriver à + infinitive | manage to, succeed in | arriver à dormir |
| arriver chez + person | arrive at someone's place | arriver chez mes parents |
| arriver dans + place | arrive in (a region, neighborhood) | arriver dans le quartier |
| arriver de + place | be coming from | arriver de Lyon |
| arriver sur + time | be approaching (a time) | on arrive sur midi |
Key takeaways
- Arriver is a regular -er verb with no orthographic adjustments, conjugated identically to parler, donner, aimer.
- It takes être in compound tenses with subject agreement: je suis arrivé, elle est arrivée, ils sont arrivés, elles sont arrivées.
- It is always intransitive — there is no transitive switch to avoir.
- Arriver à + infinitif means manage to / be able to — French's everyday way of saying "I can't get to sleep" (je n'arrive pas à dormir).
- Arriver
- indirect object means happen to someone (il m'est arrivé un truc bizarre). The productive il m'arrive de + infinitif means I sometimes....
- Arriver à temps / à l'heure (be on time), arriver en retard / en avance (be late / early) are the standard timing phrases.
- J'arrive ! on its own means I'm coming! Be right there! — an everyday utterance.
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