Venir means to come — to move toward the speaker's location, either physically or figuratively. It is one of the most heavily irregular verbs in Spanish and conveniently bundles together five of the great irregularities you will meet again and again across the whole verb system. If you master venir, you have a working model for tener, poner, decir, salir, and the rest of the yo-go family.
Five distinct irregularities stack up in this one verb:
- Yo-go present (vengo) — same pattern as tengo, salgo, pongo, hago, digo.
- e → ie stem change in the present (vienes, viene, vienen) — same boot pattern as querer, pensar, cerrar.
- u-stem strong preterite (vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron) — same family as tener (tuve), estar (estuve), poder (pude). Critical: the yo and 3rd-singular have no accent (vine, vino), unlike regular preterites.
- Dropped-vowel future (vendré) with an inserted d — same as tendré, pondré, saldré, valdré.
- Short tú imperative (ven) — same family as the eight short imperatives di, haz, ve, pon, sal, ten, ven, sé.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | venir | to come |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber venido | to have come |
| Gerundio | viniendo | coming |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo venido | having come |
| Participio | venido | come |
The gerundio viniendo uses the e→i stem (same shift that -ir stem-changers undergo in the gerund: durmiendo, pidiendo, sintiendo). The past participle venido is regular — drop -ir, add -ido.
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
Two irregularities at once. The yo is vengo (yo-go pattern). The stem changes e → ie in every form except nosotros and vosotros, which keep the bare ven- stem.
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vengo | vienes | viene | venimos | venís | vienen |
This is the so-called boot pattern — the stem change wraps around the four stressed-stem persons (yo, tú, él, ellos) and skips the two persons whose stress falls on the ending (nosotros, vosotros). The peninsular vosotros form venís is the one you will hear constantly in Spain: ¿venís a cenar? (are you guys coming to dinner?).
Vengo a recoger un paquete a nombre de Pérez.
I'm here to pick up a parcel under the name Pérez.
¿Vienes con nosotros al cine o te quedas en casa?
Are you coming to the cinema with us or staying home?
Mis primos vienen de Sevilla este fin de semana.
My cousins are coming from Seville this weekend.
Pretérito perfecto simple
A u-stem strong preterite: the stem becomes vin- and the endings are unstressed (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron). Because the stress falls on the stem, neither the yo nor the él form takes a written accent — vine and vino, not viné or vinó.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vine | viniste | vino | vinimos | vinisteis | vinieron |
This vine / vino pattern is shared with tener (tuve, tuvo), estar (estuve, estuvo), poder (pude, pudo), poner (puse, puso), saber (supe, supo), haber (hube, hubo), andar (anduve, anduvo). None of these take accents on the yo or él form.
Anoche vino mi hermana a cenar y se quedó hasta las tantas.
Last night my sister came over for dinner and stayed until really late.
No vinieron a la boda porque les pilló muy lejos.
They didn't come to the wedding because it was too far for them.
Pretérito imperfecto
The imperfect is regular — straight -ir endings on the bare stem ven-.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| venía | venías | venía | veníamos | veníais | venían |
Cuando éramos pequeños, mis abuelos venían todos los domingos a comer.
When we were little, my grandparents used to come over every Sunday for lunch.
Futuro simple
The future uses the contracted stem vendr-: drop the i of the infinitive and insert a d. The endings are perfectly regular.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vendré | vendrás | vendrá | vendremos | vendréis | vendrán |
This -dr- stem is shared with tendré, pondré, saldré, valdré — all verbs where the infinitive vowel between the stem and the -r- of the ending gets squeezed out and replaced with d. The -dr- family is closed (only five verbs); the -r- contraction family (haré, podré, sabré, querré) is separate.
Te aviso: mañana vendré un poco más tarde de lo habitual.
Heads up — tomorrow I'll come a bit later than usual.
Condicional
Same vendr- stem as the future.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vendría | vendrías | vendría | vendríamos | vendríais | vendrían |
Vendría a verte más a menudo si vivieras más cerca.
I'd come and see you more often if you lived closer.
Indicative — compound tenses
The participle venido is regular and appears in every compound tense.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he venido | has venido | ha venido | hemos venido | habéis venido | han venido |
Esta mañana ha venido el fontanero a arreglar la cisterna.
This morning the plumber came round to fix the cistern.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había venido | habías venido | había venido | habíamos venido | habíais venido | habían venido |
Cuando llegué a la oficina, ya habían venido los técnicos.
By the time I got to the office, the technicians had already come.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré venido | habrás venido | habrá venido | habremos venido | habréis venido | habrán venido |
Para entonces ya habrán venido a recoger las llaves.
By then they'll have already come to pick up the keys.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría venido | habrías venido | habría venido | habríamos venido | habríais venido | habrían venido |
Si me hubierais avisado, habría venido yo mismo a echaros una mano.
If you'd told me, I'd have come over myself to give you a hand.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
The whole present subjunctive is built on the irregular yo stem veng- — the standard rule for forming subjunctives from yo-go verbs. There is no e→ie alternation here because the stem already starts with veng-.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| venga | vengas | venga | vengamos | vengáis | vengan |
The single most useful form here is venga — it doubles as a discourse marker meaning "come on, OK, alright, go on" used dozens of times a day in conversation across Spain.
¡Venga, vamos, que llegamos tarde!
Come on, let's go, we're going to be late!
Es importante que vengáis los dos a la reunión del lunes.
It's important that you both come to Monday's meeting.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
Built from vinieron — drop the -ron, add the endings. The vin- stem is preserved throughout.
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | viniera | vinieras | viniera | viniéramos | vinierais | vinieran |
| -se | viniese | vinieses | viniese | viniésemos | vinieseis | viniesen |
Le pedí que viniera conmigo, pero tenía otros planes.
I asked him to come with me, but he had other plans.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya venido | hayas venido | haya venido | hayamos venido | hayáis venido | hayan venido |
Me alegra que hayas venido, aunque sea un rato.
I'm glad you came, even if it's just for a bit.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera venido | hubieras venido | hubiera venido | hubiéramos venido | hubierais venido | hubieran venido |
| -se | hubiese venido | hubieses venido | hubiese venido | hubiésemos venido | hubieseis venido | hubiesen venido |
Si hubieras venido a la cena, te habría presentado a Marta.
If you'd come to dinner, I'd have introduced you to Marta.
Imperative
The affirmative tú form is the famously short ven — one of the eight monosyllabic short imperatives (di, haz, ve, pon, sal, ten, ven, sé). The affirmative vosotros form is venid with the regular -d ending.
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | ven | no vengas |
| usted | venga | no venga |
| nosotros | vengamos | no vengamos |
| vosotros | venid | no vengáis |
| ustedes | vengan | no vengan |
When a pronoun attaches to ven, the stress shift forces an accent: vente (informal, "come here / come along"), venid + os → veníos (rare). Negative imperatives keep pronouns before the verb: no te vengas con tonterías.
Ven aquí un momento, que te quiero enseñar una cosa.
Come here for a sec, I want to show you something.
No vengáis tan tarde como la última vez, por favor.
Don't come as late as you did last time, please.
Venir + preposition: the productive frames
venir a + infinitive — "to come (in order) to do something"
The most common pattern. The a introduces the purpose of coming.
He venido a hablar contigo sobre lo del fin de semana.
I've come to talk to you about the weekend thing.
venir de + infinitive — "to have just done something"
This is the construction English speakers most often miss. Venir de + infinitivo expresses an action that has just been completed — exactly equivalent to French venir de faire. Spanish has a competing construction acabar de + infinitivo, but venir de is also used, particularly in news and journalistic prose.
Vengo de hablar con el director y no parece muy contento.
I've just been speaking with the director and he doesn't seem too pleased.
venir de + place — "to come from somewhere"
The standard origin construction.
Mis padres vienen de un pueblo pequeño cerca de Burgos.
My parents come from a small village near Burgos.
Venir vs ir: the deictic pair
Venir and ir form a deictic pair: venir means motion toward the speaker (or sometimes the listener); ir means motion away from the speaker. This sounds simple but trips up English speakers because English use of "come" is more permissive — you can say "I'll come to your party" in English even though the motion is away from you (toward the listener). Spanish strictly prefers ir here.
✅ Voy a tu fiesta el sábado.
I'll come to your party on Saturday. (Motion away from me, the speaker.)
❌ Vengo a tu fiesta el sábado.
Wrong if you, the speaker, are not currently at the party.
The exception: if you are speaking from the destination — for example, on the phone, already at the party, telling someone to join — then venir is correct: Vente, que ya estamos todos aquí (Come on over, we're all here already).
High-frequency expressions
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| venir a + infinitivo | to come to do something (purpose) |
| venir de + infinitivo | to have just done something |
| venir bien / mal | to suit / not suit, to come at a good / bad time |
| ¿a qué viene…? | what's the point of…? why on earth…? |
| venir al pelo | to come at exactly the right moment (informal) |
| el que viene / la semana que viene | next (one) / next week |
| vente / véngase | come along (informal / formal) |
| ¡venga! | come on! / OK then! (universal discourse marker) |
Me viene fatal quedar el viernes, ¿podemos cambiarlo al sábado?
Friday's a terrible time for me — can we move it to Saturday?
¿A qué viene ahora ese tono? Estábamos hablando tranquilamente.
What's with that tone all of a sudden? We were having a calm conversation.
Common Mistakes
❌ Yo veno mañana a tu casa.
The yo-go form is vengo, not *veno.
✅ Yo vengo mañana a tu casa.
I'm coming to your place tomorrow.
❌ Ayer vené a verte pero no estabas.
The preterite is a strong u-stem: vine, with no accent. *Vené is regular -er, not the right pattern.
✅ Ayer vine a verte pero no estabas.
Yesterday I came by to see you but you weren't in.
❌ Mañana veniré a recogerte a las ocho.
The future drops the i and inserts d: vendré, not *veniré.
✅ Mañana vendré a recogerte a las ocho.
Tomorrow I'll come pick you up at eight.
❌ Vengo a tu cumpleaños el sábado.
If the speaker is not at the destination, Spanish uses ir, not venir. The motion is away from the speaker.
✅ Voy a tu cumpleaños el sábado.
I'll come to your birthday on Saturday.
❌ Vinó muy tarde a la reunión.
The 3rd-singular u-stem preterite carries no accent: vino.
✅ Vino muy tarde a la reunión.
He came very late to the meeting.
Key Takeaways
- Venir stacks five irregularities: yo-go (vengo), e→ie stem change (vienes), u-stem strong preterite (vine, vino), dropped-vowel future with inserted d (vendré), short tú imperative (ven).
- The u-stem preterite carries no written accents on the yo or él forms — vine, vino, not viné, vinó.
- The future stem vendr- is shared with tendr-, pondr-, saldr-, valdr-. Do not confuse with venderé (future of vender, to sell).
- Venir means motion toward the speaker. Motion away from the speaker is ir, even when English would say "come".
- Venga is the most ubiquitous discourse marker in peninsular Spanish — "come on, OK, alright" — and is technically the present subjunctive / formal imperative of venir.
- High-frequency constructions: venir a + infinitivo (purpose), venir de + infinitivo (just-completed action), venir bien / mal (to suit / not suit).
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- Verbos con 'yo' en -go: tener, poner, salir, hacer, venir, decirA2 — The yo-go family — a dozen high-frequency verbs whose only present-tense irregularity is an inserted -g- in the first-person singular.
- Cambio vocálico: e>ie (pensar, querer, preferir)A2 — The most common stem-change pattern in Spanish: stressed e becomes ie in the 'boot' forms — yo, tú, él, ellos — while nosotros and vosotros keep the simple e.
- Pretérito con raíz en -u-: estar, tener, poder, poner, saberB1 — The strong-preterite family whose stem warps to -u-: estuve, tuve, pude, puse, supe — sharing one set of unaccented endings and producing several of the highest-frequency verbs in spoken Spanish.
- Futuro: raíces irregularesB1 — The twelve Spanish verbs with irregular future stems — tendr-, pondr-, saldr-, vendr-, valdr-, podr-, sabr-, cabr-, querr-, habr-, har-, dir- — grouped by pattern, with the same endings as regular verbs and the bonus that these stems also power the conditional.
- Imperativo afirmativo de tú: irregularesA2 — The eight famous monosyllabic tú commands — di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven — that every Spanish learner must memorise.
- decirA1 — Full conjugation reference for decir (to say, to tell) — one of the four most irregular verbs in Spanish. Combines a yo-go (digo), an e→i stem change, a j-stem strong preterite (dije, dijeron not *dijieron), a contracted future (diré), an irregular participle (dicho), and the famously short tú imperative di.