A short while ago I wrote a couple of blogs about il verbo andare (to go). Let’s have a look now at its companion venire (to come), beginning with the common conjugations.
Il presente (The present tense):
io vengo = I come
tu vieni = you (informal) come
lui/lei/Lei viene = he/she/you formal comes
noi veniamo = we come
voi venite = you (plural) come
loro vengono = they come
N.B. we also use the present tense to talk about the future. Here are a couple of examples:
veniamo qui molto spesso (we very often come here) – veniamo a trovarti venerdì prossimo, va bene? (we’ll come to visit you next Friday, o.k.?)
vieni all festa stasera? (are you coming to the party this evening?)
Il passato prossimo (The present perfect):
As with andare, we use the verb essere (to be) with the past participle of venire when we talk about the past in the passato prossimo, e.g.:
sono venuto ieri mattina ma non c’eri (I (masculine) came yesterday morning but you weren’t in)
siamo venuti qua in vacanza anche l’anno scorso (we came here on holiday last year as well)
Other common uses of the verb venire:
with the meaning of – to be (used instead of essere): i funghi della Valdantena vengono considerati i migliori (the Valdantena mushrooms are considered the best), lo zucchero viene estratto dalla barbabietola (sugar is extracted from sugar beet)
with the meaning of – to cost: quanto vengono queste scarpe? (how much are these shoes?), quanto mi viene a costare? (how much will it cost me?)
with the meaning of – to get/to become: mi sta venendo fame (I’m getting hungry), ti sta venendo freddo? (are you getting cold?)
with the meaning of – to feel like: mi viene da ridere (I feel like laughing), ci è venuto da piangere (we felt like crying)
with the meaning of – to have: mi è venuta un’idea! (I’ve had an idea!), mi è venuto un dubbio (I’ve had a doubt)
with the meaning of – to catch an illness: mi è venuta l’influenza (I’ve caught the flu), mi sta venendo il mal di schiena (I’m getting a back ache)
with the meaning of – to turn out: dopo un brutto inizio è venuta una bella giornata (after a bad start it turned out to be a lovely day), com’è venuta la torta? (how did the cake turn out?)
