Question 1

The lesson is about venir (to come), but this sentence uses revenons. How are they related?

Accepted Answer

Revenons is the nous (we) form of revenir, which means "to come back." It is formed simply by adding re- to the beginning of venir. In French, all verbs that end in -venir follow the exact same conjugation pattern as venir. Since "we come" is nous venons, "we come back" is nous revenons.

Question 2

The English translation says "are coming back", but I don't see a word for "are" in the French sentence. Why?

Accepted Answer

French doesn't have a "present continuous" tense (like "am doing" or "are coming"). The single French verb revenons translates to both "come back" and "are coming back". A very common beginner mistake is trying to translate the "are" by adding a form of être (to be) before the verb, but in French, the action and the "are" are all packed into the one word revenons.

Question 3

Why is the present tense used if they are coming back "tomorrow"?

Accepted Answer

Just like in English, French often uses the present tense to talk about a fixed plan in the near future. Because the sentence includes the word demain (tomorrow), the listener knows exactly when the action will happen, making a future tense unnecessary.

Question 4

Could I use retournons instead of revenons here?

Accepted Answer

It depends on where "here" is! Revenir means "to come back" to the place you currently are. Retourner means "to go back" to a different place. So if you are currently at the hotel and plan to come back to the hotel tomorrow, you use revenir. If you are at a museum and talking about going back to the hotel, you would use retourner.

Nous revenons demain.

Breakdown of Nous revenons demain.

Questions & Answers about Nous revenons demain.

Learn Nous revenons demain and more in French