Revenir is the verb to come back. It is the re- prefixed cousin of venir, and it inherits venir's irregular conjugation in full — every paradigm, every irregular stem, the participle in -u. It also inherits venir's position in the maison d'être: in compound tenses, it takes être with subject agreement on the past participle.
The single most important semantic point: revenir means come back to where the speaker or listener is, not just return. Choosing between revenir, retourner, and rentrer is one of the genuine puzzles of motion verbs in French, and this page sets it out in detail along with every paradigm and every major idiomatic use.
Conjugation: the -venir / -tenir family
Revenir shares its irregular template with venir, devenir, parvenir, intervenir, prévenir, se souvenir and the tenir family (tenir, retenir, contenir, obtenir, soutenir). If you have already learned one of these, you know them all.
The verb has three present-tense stems:
- revien- (singular: 1, 2, 3 sg)
- reven- (plural: 1, 2 pl)
- revienn- (3 pl)
This stem alternation is the fingerprint of the family.
Présent de l'indicatif
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | reviens | /ʁə.vjɛ̃/ |
| tu | reviens | /ʁə.vjɛ̃/ |
| il / elle / on | revient | /ʁə.vjɛ̃/ |
| nous | revenons | /ʁə.və.nɔ̃/ |
| vous | revenez | /ʁə.və.ne/ |
| ils / elles | reviennent | /ʁə.vjɛn/ |
The three singular forms (reviens, reviens, revient) are pronounced identically: /ʁə.vjɛ̃/, with a nasalized vowel and no final consonant. The plural shifts radically — the nasal disappears in reviennent (note the doubled n before the vowel ending) and the stem reduces to reven- before consonants.
Je reviens dans deux minutes, j'ai oublié mes clés.
I'll be back in two minutes, I forgot my keys.
Tu reviens d'où à cette heure ?
Where are you coming back from at this hour?
Ils reviennent de Berlin demain matin.
They're coming back from Berlin tomorrow morning.
The lone-utterance Je reviens ! is everyday French for "I'll be right back!" — said when stepping away from a conversation, a counter, a desk.
Imparfait
The imparfait stem is reven- (the same stem as the nous/vous present forms).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | revenais |
| tu | revenais |
| il / elle / on | revenait |
| nous | revenions |
| vous | reveniez |
| ils / elles | revenaient |
Quand je revenais de l'école, ma grand-mère me préparait un goûter.
When I would come back from school, my grandmother would make me a snack.
Ils revenaient toujours bronzés et fatigués de leurs vacances en Corse.
They always came back tanned and tired from their vacations in Corsica.
Passé simple (literary)
The passé simple of the -venir / -tenir family is famously irregular: stem revin-, with circonflexe on the nous / vous forms.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | revins |
| tu | revins |
| il / elle / on | revint |
| nous | revînmes |
| vous | revîntes |
| ils / elles | revinrent |
This is (literary) — you'll meet it in novels and historical writing. Note the unique 3pl ending -inrent (rather than the general -rent of -er or -irent of -ir verbs).
Il revint le lendemain, et personne ne lui posa de questions.
He came back the next day, and no one asked him any questions.
Futur simple and conditionnel présent
The future / conditional stem is reviendr- — note the d that surfaces here but is invisible in the present indicative.
| Person | Futur simple | Conditionnel |
|---|---|---|
| je | reviendrai | reviendrais |
| tu | reviendras | reviendrais |
| il / elle / on | reviendra | reviendrait |
| nous | reviendrons | reviendrions |
| vous | reviendrez | reviendriez |
| ils / elles | reviendront | reviendraient |
Je reviendrai te voir samedi prochain, c'est promis.
I'll come back to see you next Saturday, I promise.
Sans cet emploi, ils reviendraient peut-être au Canada.
Without that job, they might come back to Canada.
Subjonctif présent
The subjunctive uses the same stem alternation as the present indicative: revienn- throughout the singular and 3pl, reven- in the nous and vous forms.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| que je | revienne |
| que tu | reviennes |
| qu'il / elle / on | revienne |
| que nous | revenions |
| que vous | reveniez |
| qu'ils / elles | reviennent |
Il faut que je revienne avant la nuit.
I need to be back before nightfall.
J'aimerais qu'ils reviennent vivre près de nous.
I'd like them to come back and live near us.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | reviens |
| nous | revenons |
| vous | revenez |
The tu form is reviens — there is no -s drop here because revenir is a 3rd-group verb, not -er (the -s drop applies only to -er verbs and the verb aller).
Reviens vite, on t'attend.
Come back soon, we're waiting for you.
The compound tenses — auxiliary ÊTRE
Revenir takes être in compound tenses, with subject agreement on the past participle.
Past participle: revenu(e)(s)
The past participle is revenu — note the -u ending characteristic of the venir / tenir family.
| Subject gender / number | Past participle |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | revenu |
| feminine singular | revenue |
| masculine plural | revenus |
| feminine plural | revenues |
In speech, revenu and revenus are pronounced /ʁə.və.ny/, while revenue and revenues are also /ʁə.və.ny/ — the agreement is purely orthographic.
Passé composé
Je suis revenue de Marseille hier soir, complètement crevée.
I came back from Marseille last night, completely wiped out.
Mes cousins sont revenus pour Noël après dix ans en Australie.
My cousins came back for Christmas after ten years in Australia.
Elle est revenue te chercher, elle est dehors.
She came back to pick you up, she's outside.
Plus-que-parfait, futur antérieur, conditionnel passé
| Tense | Form (3sg masc) |
|---|---|
| plus-que-parfait | il était revenu |
| futur antérieur | il sera revenu |
| conditionnel passé | il serait revenu |
| passé du subjonctif | qu'il soit revenu |
Quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà revenu.
When I got there, he had already come back.
Je serai revenue avant que tu ne t'en aperçoives.
I'll be back before you even notice.
Revenir, retourner, rentrer: the homecoming triangle
The single hardest distinction. The trick is the speaker's perspective:
- Revenir = come back to where the speaker or listener is.
- Retourner = go back to a place neither speaker nor listener is at.
- Rentrer = return home.
Two examples sharpen the distinction:
If you (the speaker) are at the office and say to a colleague:
Je reviens dans cinq minutes.
I'll be right back.
If you are at the office and you talk about a city you used to live in:
Je retourne à Bordeaux le mois prochain.
I'm going back to Bordeaux next month.
If you are at the office and you mean going home for the night:
Je rentre vers 19h.
I'm heading home around 7.
The same speaker, same evening, can use all three verbs about different motions. Revenir is anchored to the deictic center — the here-and-now of the conversation.
Reviens demain, je ne suis pas chez moi maintenant.
Come back tomorrow, I'm not home right now.
Tu retournes en Espagne cet été ?
Are you going back to Spain this summer?
Revenir sur: reconsider, retract, go back over
Revenir sur is a high-frequency idiom meaning reconsider, go back over, retract. It applies to decisions, statements, opinions, episodes — anything one can revisit mentally.
Je suis revenue sur ma décision : je ne pars plus en Espagne.
I've reconsidered my decision — I'm not going to Spain anymore.
Le ministre est revenu sur ses propos hier soir à la télévision.
The minister walked back his statements on television last night.
J'aimerais revenir sur ce que tu as dit tout à l'heure.
I'd like to come back to what you said earlier.
The construction can also mean dwell on / harp on when used negatively:
Arrête de revenir sur cette histoire, c'est fini.
Stop bringing up this story — it's over.
Revenir à soi: regain consciousness
Revenir à soi is the standard expression for regaining consciousness after fainting, surgery, an accident.
Elle a perdu connaissance pendant deux minutes avant de revenir à elle.
She lost consciousness for two minutes before regaining it.
Quand il est revenu à lui, il était à l'hôpital.
When he came to, he was in the hospital.
Note the agreement of soi: je reviens à moi, tu reviens à toi, il revient à lui, elle revient à elle, nous revenons à nous, vous revenez à vous, ils reviennent à eux. The disjunctive (moi, toi, lui...) replaces the impersonal soi when the subject is identified.
Ça me revient: it's coming back to me
The most useful everyday use of revenir is the impersonal construction ça me revient — the French equivalent of "it's coming back to me / I remember now." Here revenir takes an indirect object (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur), and the thing remembered is the subject.
Ah, ça me revient maintenant — il s'appelle Vincent !
Oh, it's coming back to me now — his name is Vincent!
Le titre de la chanson ne me revient pas, mais j'ai la mélodie en tête.
The title of the song isn't coming to me, but I have the melody in my head.
Tout lui est revenu d'un coup en voyant la photo.
It all came back to him in a flash when he saw the photo.
The construction works exactly like arriver + indirect object: the subject is the dummy thing, the experiencer is an indirect-object pronoun.
Other high-frequency uses
Cost / amount to: revenir à expresses cost or total.
Le repas nous est revenu à 80 euros par personne.
The meal cost us 80 euros per person.
Be entitled to / be one's place: revenir à + person.
C'est à toi que revient cette décision, pas à moi.
This decision is yours to make, not mine.
In cooking — sweat / brown: faire revenir in a pan.
Faites revenir l'oignon dans un peu de beurre avant d'ajouter la viande.
Sweat the onion in a little butter before adding the meat.
Set expressions:
- revenir de loin — to have come back from a near-fatal situation.
- ne pas en revenir — to not get over something (in disbelief).
- cela revient au même — it amounts to the same thing.
Après son opération, il est revenu de loin.
After his operation, he came back from a close call.
Je n'en reviens pas qu'il ait quitté son poste.
I can't get over the fact that he quit his job.
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai revenu hier.
Incorrect — revenir takes être, not avoir.
✅ Je suis revenu(e) hier.
I came back yesterday.
❌ Je revenrai demain.
Incorrect — the future stem is reviendr-, not reven-.
✅ Je reviendrai demain.
I'll come back tomorrow.
❌ Il faut que je reviens.
Incorrect — after 'il faut que' the subjunctive is required, with stem revienn-.
✅ Il faut que je revienne.
I need to come back.
❌ Reviens à Paris !
Awkward unless the speaker is in Paris — for someone going from one city to another, use 'retourne.'
✅ Retourne à Paris !
Go back to Paris!
❌ Ça me reviens pas.
Incorrect — 3sg requires 'revient,' not 'reviens.' (And the negation needs ne… pas.)
✅ Ça ne me revient pas.
It's not coming to me.
The future-stem error (revenrai instead of reviendrai) is one of the most common errors with this verb — drill the -iendr- stem until automatic. The je / tu vs il mixup in the present (reviens / reviens / revient) is also frequent in writing.
Key takeaways
- Revenir conjugates exactly like venir, devenir, parvenir, prévenir and the -tenir family (tenir, retenir, contenir).
- It has three present-tense stems: revien- (singular), reven- (1, 2 pl), revienn- (3 pl).
- The future / conditional stem is reviendr- — note the d.
- Past participle: revenu — agrees with the subject in compound tenses (être auxiliary).
- Revenir is anchored to the speaker's location: come back to where I am. Distinguish from retourner (return to a third place) and rentrer (return home).
- Revenir sur = reconsider / retract / go back over.
- Ça me revient = it's coming back to me (memory).
- Revenir à soi = regain consciousness.
- Faire revenir (cooking) = sweat / brown in a pan.
- Ne pas en revenir = to be in disbelief.
Now practice French
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning French→Related Topics
- Venir: Full Verb ReferenceA1 — Venir is the verb to come — but its real importance is the construction venir de + infinitive (passé récent: just did). It also heads a productive family of compound verbs: revenir, devenir, parvenir, prévenir. This page is the full reference: every paradigm, every compound tense, the core uses, and the family.
- Retourner: Full Verb ReferenceA2 — Retourner is the verb of going back to a place — but specifically a place that isn't your home and isn't where the speaker is. With a direct object it switches to avoir and means 'turn over, flip' (il a retourné la crêpe). The reflexive se retourner means 'turn around.' This page covers every paradigm, the auxiliary switch, and the precise contrast with rentrer and revenir.
- Rentrer: Full Verb ReferenceA2 — Rentrer is the verb of going home and going back inside — the homecoming verb. As a member of the maison d'être it takes être in compound tenses, but with a direct object it switches to avoir (j'ai rentré la voiture = I put the car in the garage). This page covers every paradigm, the auxiliary switch, the contrast with retourner and revenir, and the rich set of homecoming idioms from rentrer chez soi to rentrer au bercail.
- DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP: the maison d'être mnemonicA1 — The classic memory aid for the seventeen French verbs that take être as their compound-tense auxiliary, organized as a fictional family with motion and state-change at its core.
- Aller vs VenirA1 — The most basic motion verb pair in French. Aller = go (toward a destination, away from where you are). Venir = come (toward the speaker or addressee). Both are highly irregular, both take être in compound tenses, and both feed essential periphrases — futur proche (aller + inf) and passé récent (venir de + inf). Master the deictic logic and the idiom set, and you will use these verbs constantly.
- Passé Récent: Venir de + InfinitiveA2 — The construction venir de + infinitive — je viens de manger, il vient de partir — is the French way of saying 'just did' something. It is high-frequency, register-neutral, and one of the cleanest mappings between French and English: 'I just ate' is je viens de manger, full stop.