Preterite of Vir

The verb vir (to come) is one of the most irregular verbs in the Portuguese preterite. Its stem changes completely and unpredictably across the conjugation -- vim, vieste, veio -- following no regular -ir pattern whatsoever. Because vir is essential for describing movement, arrivals, and origins in the past, these forms appear constantly in everyday European Portuguese. They must simply be memorized.

Conjugation

Nothing here follows a predictable pattern. The eu form vim ends in -m rather than the regular -i. The third-person singular veio has a unique diphthong that matches no other verb. The nós form viemos looks nothing like the regular -ir pattern partimos. Each form must be learned individually.

Coming and arriving in the past

The core use of vir in the preterite: describing movement toward the speaker's location or a reference point.

To ask about someone's origin or route, use de onde:

Vim vs fui -- came vs went

This is a key directional pair that learners frequently confuse. The difference depends entirely on the speaker's perspective at the moment of speaking.

Vim means movement toward where the speaker currently is. Fui means movement toward a place where the speaker currently is not. English often uses "came" loosely for both, but European Portuguese maintains the distinction. For the full conjugation of fui, see Preterite of Ser and Ir.

Veio -- the tricky third person

The ele/ela/você form veio deserves extra attention because it is entirely unique. Compare how other verbs form the third-person preterite:

Regular -er verbs end in -eu (comeu), regular -ir verbs end in -iu (partiu), but vir gives veio -- a form that rhymes with nothing in the regular system. There is no shortcut; it must be memorized as a standalone form.

Vir vs ver in the preterite

These two verbs are dangerously similar in both spelling and sound. Mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes learners make.

Compounds of vir

Verbs built on vir follow the exact same irregular pattern. If you know the forms of vir, you can conjugate its compounds by adding the prefix.

• convir (to suit, to be convenient) → convim, convieste, conveio, conviemos, convieram
• intervir (to intervene) → intervim, intervieste, interveio, interviemos, intervieram
• provir (to come from, to originate) → provim, provieste, proveio, proviemos, provieram

These compounds appear more often in formal or written Portuguese, but their conjugation follows vir exactly -- no surprises beyond the prefix.

Common mistakes

1. Using viu for vir. The form viu belongs to ver (to see), not vir (to come). Ele viu o filme (He saw the film) vs Ele veio ao cinema (He came to the cinema). This is the single most frequent error with this verb.

2. Inventing forms like venhou or virou. No part of the present-tense stem ven- or any other pattern carries into the preterite. The preterite forms are vim, vieste, veio -- completely unrelated to the present.

3. Confusing vim (I came) with vi (I saw). These differ by a single letter but come from entirely different verbs. Listen for the final -m in vim to distinguish them in speech.

4. Writing veiu instead of veio. The correct third-person form is veio with an o, not veiu with a u. This is a common spelling error, especially for learners who expect the -iu ending of regular -ir verbs.

For the full preterite system, see Preterite Overview. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Ir and Vir. For another highly irregular preterite verb, see Preterite of Ter.