Conjugating the Simple French Tenses of 'Revenir' (to Come Back)

Revenir is a frequently used irregular French verb that is conjugated the same as all other verbs ending in -venir and -tenir. Note that the conjugations in the table below are only those for simple tenses; compound conjugations, which include a form of the auxiliary verb être and the past participle revenu, are not included.

Meanings and Expressions of 'Revenir'

Revenir is a flexible verb meaning "to come back," "to come back home," "to return" and other related concepts, and it is used in many French idiomatic expressions, such as:

• Je reviens (tout de suite). > I'll be right back.
• revenir en arrière > to go back in time; to retrace one's steps
• revenir cher > to be expensive
• faire revenir > (in cooking) to brown
• revenir au point de départ > to go back to the starting point
• D'où nous revenez-vous ? > Where have you been?

Other French Verbs Ending in '-VENIR'

Most verbs that, like revenir, end in -venir use être as their auxiliary verb. A few, such as circonvenir, prévenir and se souvenir (see below) use avoir.

• advenir > to happen
• circonvenir > to circumvent, get around
• contrevenir > to contravene
• convenir > to suit, be suitable
• devenir > to become
• intervenir > to intervene
• parvenir > to reach, achieve
• prévenir > to warn
• provenir > to come from, be due to
• revenir > to come back
• se souvenir > to remember
• subvenir > to provide for
• survenir > to occur, take place

French Verbs Ending in '-TENIR'

Verbs that end in -tenir follow the same conjugation pattern as verbs like revenir that end in -venir, except -tenir verbs take avoir as their auxiliary verb.

• s'abstenir > to refrain, abstain from
• appartenir > to belong to
• contenir > to contain
• détenir > to detain
• entretenir > to look after, support, foster, keep alive
• maintenir  > to maintain
• obtenir > to obtain
• retenir > to retain
• soutenir > to support
• tenir > to hold, keep

How to Memorize French Verb Conjugations

Tip: Concentrate on the most useful tenses (présent, imparfait, passé composé) and get used to using them in context. Once you've mastered them, move on to the rest.

Training with an audio source such as the French Verb Drills Audiobook Series may also be helpful. There are many liaisons, elisions and modern glidings used with French verbs, and the written form may mislead you into using the wrong pronunciation.

Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French Verb 'Revenir'

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Present participle
je	reviens	reviendrai	revenais	revenant
tu	reviens	reviendras	revenais
il	revient	reviendra	revenait	Passé composé
nous	revenons	reviendrons	revenions	Auxiliary verb être
vous	revenez	reviendrez	reveniez	Past participle revenu
ils	reviennent	reviendront	revenaient
	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé simple	Imperfect subjunctive
je	revienne	reviendrais	revins	revinsse
tu	reviennes	reviendrais	revins	revinsses
il	revienne	reviendrait	revint	revînt
nous	revenions	reviendrions	revînmes	revinssions
vous	reveniez	reviendriez	revîntes	revinssiez
ils	reviennent	reviendraient	revinrent	revinssent
	Imperative
(tu)	reviens
(nous)	revenons
(vous)	revenez