Venire (to come) is a very common Italian word, so you’ll hear it all the time in Italy.
Here, you’ll learn the most useful ways to use venire in Italian: in the present, past, and future tenses. You’ll also see how it’s used in common conversations, like talking about shopping or discussing plans for your trip.
You’ll also see a situation where Italians wouldn’t use venire (even though you might expect them to) and what you should stay instead.
Venire in the present tense
You use the present tense in Italian to talk about things you’re doing right now, or things you do regularly. You can even use the present tense to talk about things you’re going to do in the future.
A little reminder: in Italian, we usually leave out pronouns like “I” and “you” because the verb ending already shows who’s speaking.
| Vengo | I come | VEN-goh |
| Vieni | You come | VYEH-nee |
| Viene | He / she comes | VYEH-neh |
| Veniamo | We come | Veh-NYAH-moh |
| Venite | You (plural) come | Veh-NEE-teh |
| Vengono | They come | Ven-GOH-noh |
For example:
-Vieni spesso in Italia? -Do you come to Italy often?
- Sì, vengo ogni estate. -Yes, I come every summer.
And:
-Venite in aereo o in treno? -Are you coming by plane or by train?
-In realtà veniamo in macchina -Actually we’re coming by car.
Venire in the past tense ( passato prossimo )
When you talk about something that you’ve done recently, or when you’re talking about a one-off action, you use the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
When we use this tense with venire, we literally say “I am come”, “you are come”, etc.
Although it might sound strange when literally translated, we used to say this in old-fashioned English too in phrases like “I am come” (the Bible) or “I am gone” (Shakespeare).
| Sono venuto/a* | I came | SOH-noh veh-NOO-toh / tah |
| Sei venuto/a | You came | Say veh-NOO-toh / tah |
| È venuto/a | He / she came | EH veh-NOO-toh / tah |
| Siamo venuti/e | We came | SYAH-moh veh-NOO-tee / teh |
| Siete venuti/e | You (plural) came | SYEH-teh veh-NOO-tee / teh |
| Sono venuti/e | They came | SOH-noh veh-NOO-tee / teh |
For example:
Sono venuto a piedi. -I came on foot.
È venuto con i suoi amici. -He came with his friends.
Sono venuti in Toscana l’anno scorso. - They came to Tuscany last year.
For more on how this tense works, you can see our blogpost on passato prossimo in Italian: how to use this past tense .
*If you’re wondering why there are different options for the “venuto” part, it depends on the gender and number of the person you’re talking about. For example:
Sono venuto – I came (masculine singular)
Sono venuta – I came (feminine singular)
Siamo venuti – We came (masculine plural)
Siamo venute – We came (feminine plural)
Venire in the future tense
You can use the present tense in Italian to talk about the future, or you can also use the future tense. It’s like saying “will” in English.
| Verrò | I will come | vehr-ROH |
| Verrai | You will came | vehr-RYE |
| Verrà | He / she will come | vehr-RAH |
| Verremo | We will come | vehr-REH-moh |
| Verrete | You (plural) will come | vehr-REH-teh |
| Verranno | They will come | vehr-RAHN-noh |
For example:
Verrete al cinema domani? -Will you (plural) come to the cinema tomorrow?
Verremo con te in pizzeria. -We’ll come with you to the pizzeria .
Venire for giving commands ( l’imperativo )
If you want to order someone to do something, you can use the imperativo in Italian. Here’s how it works with venire for “you singular” and “you plural”.
| Tu | Vieni! | Come! (You singular) | VYEH-nee |
| Voi | Venite! | Come! (You plural) | Veh-NEE-teh |
For example:
Vieni qui un secondo. -Come here for a second.
Venite con noi! -Come with us!
Shopping with venire
You might already know the phrase quanto costa? (how much does it cost?) in Italian.
Did you know that you can use venire to ask the same question? It’s just another way of saying it. It’s a bit like saying “what does it come to?” in English.
For example:
- Quanto viene questo? -How much is this?
-Viene dieci euro. -It comes to ten euros.
A common misconception with venire
Lots of learners think that they should use venire when they’re talking about what country or city they’re from. Although this isn’t incorrect in Italian, it’s not the most natural way to say it.
Instead, in Italian the most natural way to talk about where you’re from is to say sono (I am), plus your nationality.
So not:
❌ Vengo dagli Stati Uniti. -I come from the United States.
But instead:
✅ Sono americano. -I’m American (masculine)
✅ Sono americana. -I’m American (feminine).
Italian Verb Venire (To Come): When and How to Use it: Review
| Presente | Passato Prossimo | Futuro | Imperativo |
| Vengo | Sono venuto/a | Verrò | |
| Vieni | Sei venuto/a | Verrai | Vieni! |
| Viene | È venuto/a | Verrà | |
| Veniamo | Siamo venuti/e | Verremo | |
| Venite | Siete venuti/e | Verrete | Venite! |
| Vengono | Sono venuti/e | Verranno |
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: Venire is an irregular verb. This just means that it doesn’t follow the normal patterns and you have to learn it as it is.
K: But because it’s so common, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to hear it and practice it. For example, you’ll hear it used in conversations about travel plans, like talking about where you’re coming to meet someone, or the transport you’ll use to get there.
Before we get started on how venire works, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie !
M: In this conversation between me and Katie, we’ll use different forms of venire. See if you can hear the different ways we’ve used it to talk about Katie coming to Naples and me coming to pick her up.
M: A che ora arrivi?
K: Alle 7 ma vengo in treno quindi...vediamo
M: Ok. Io e mia mamma veniamo in stazione.
K: No, tranquillo: vengo in metro.
M: Ma viene anche mia sorella!
K: Ma se venite in macchina c'è traffico...
M: Beh…
K: Vengo in metro: è comoda
M: Ma...
K: e poi...vorrei prendere una graffa, ma non dire niente a tua mamma!
K: Matteo asked me:
M: A che ora arrivi? - What time do you arrive? Literally:
A - at
Che - what
Ora - hour
Arrivi - you arrive
K: Then I answered:
M: Alle 7 ma vengo in treno - at 7, but I’m coming by train. Literally:
Alle - at the
7 - seven
Ma - but
Vengo - I come
In - in
Treno - train
K: And then I added:
M: quindi...vediamo - so, let’s see. Literally:
Quindi - so
Vediamo - we see
K: Italian trains aren’t known for being reliable. So when I travel from Milan to visit Matteo’s family in Naples, it’s more likely than not that the train will be delayed.
M: You also heard the first example of venire: Vengo. I come. Vengo.
K: As you’ve heard here, it’s a useful word to use when you want to tell someone which transport you’re using to get somewhere. I’m coming by train, which in Italian is “in train”:
M: Vengo in treno (x2)
K: You’d think you could use vengo to talk about what country you’re from too. Like saying vengo dagli Stati Uniti - I come from the United States. This wouldn’t be wrong to say in Italian, and Italians would understand you, but it’s not the most natural way to say where you’re from.
M: Instead, in Italian, we usually say I am, plus the nationality. For example, sono italiano - I’m Italian. Sono italiano. Or sono italiana for a female. For example, I wouldn’t say vengo dall’Italia - I come from Italy. I would say sono italiano. Or if from the US, you could say sono americano or sono americana.
K: You might also be wondering why in Italian we just say vengo in treno (I come by train) instead of “I’m coming by train”. That’s because in English, we often say “I’m doing this” or “I’m doing that”, to talk about what we’re doing right now. This form exists in Italian too, but we often just use the simple version “I do this” or “I do that”. I come by train: Vengo in treno.
Then Matteo said:
M: Ok. Io e mia mamma veniamo in stazione. - Ok, my mum and I are coming to the station. Literally:
Ok - ok
Io - I
E - and
Mia - my
Mamma - mum
Veniamo - we come
In - in
Stazione - station
M: Here you heard another form of the verb venire: veniamo . We come, or we are coming. Veniamo.
K: So, so far you’ve heard I come:
M: Vengo (x2)
K: And we come
M: Veniamo (x2)
K: Again, you can see how it’s being used here to talk about what transport you’re taking and where you’re headed to as well, so definitely useful when you’re discussing plans and logistics in Italy.
Then I replied:
M: No, tranquillo: vengo in metro. - No, don’t worry: I’ll come by metro. Literally:
No - no
Tranquillo - calm
Vengo - I come
In - in
Metro - metro
K: In Italian you can use the present tense to talk about the future. So vengo can actually mean I come, I am coming or I will come. You can say a lot of things with just one simple word!
Then Matteo said:
M: Ma viene anche mia sorella! - But my sister is also coming! Literally:
Ma - but
Viene - she comes
Anche - also
Mia - my
Sorella - sister
M: You’ve now heard a third way of saying venire: viene. He or she comes. Viene.
K: So we’ve had I come:
M: Vengo (x2)
K: We come:
M: Veniamo (x2)
K: And now he or she comes:
M: Viene (x2)
K: As you can hear from these examples, the sound of venire changes quite a bit depending on who we are talking about, so don’t worry if you can’t remember all of the forms at first. It takes time to learn them, so feel free to listen to this episode as many times as you need to help it stick.
Then I said to Matteo:
M: Ma se venite in macchina c'è traffico… - but if you come by car, there’s traffic. Literally:
Ma - but
Se - if
Venite - you (plural) come
In - by
Macchina - car
C’è - there is
Traffico - traffic
K: You just heard a fourth way of using the verb venire
M: Venite. You plural come. Venite.
K: Unlike English, Italian has a way of saying “you” that we always use when talking to more than one person. It’s a bit like saying “you both” or “you all”.
M: So because Katie wasn’t just talking about me coming, she was also talking about me, my mum and sister coming, it made sense for her to use the “you plural”.
K: So just to give you a chance to hear the forms of venire again, you’ve heard I come: M: Vengo (x2)
K: We come
M: Veniamo (x2)
K: He or she comes
M: Viene (x2)
K: And now you plural come
M: Venite (x2)
K: Matteo wasn’t very convinced about my idea to come by metro, so he answered:
M: Beh
K: Beh isn’t exactly a word, it’s more of a common sound that Italians make when they’re thinking about something. It’s a bit like saying “well…” in English.
Then I still insisted on coming by metro and said:
K: Vengo in metro: è comoda - I’ll come by metro, it’s convenient. Literally:
Vengo - I come
In - in
Metro - metro
È - it is
Comoda - convenient
K: Matteo still wasn’t very convinced, so he said:
M: Ma… - But…
K: And then I shared the real reason I wanted to come by metro
M : e poi...vorrei prendere una graffa - and then…I’d like to get a graffa. Literally:
E - and
Poi - then
Vorrei - I’d like
Prendere - to take
Una - a
Graffa - graffa
K: A graffa is a traditional Napeoplitan sweet snack. It’s a bit like a doughnut, but potatoes are sometimes added to the mixture to make it softer. And like many things in Naples, it’s deep fried. Which is also why I said to Matteo:
M: ma non dire niente a tua mamma! - but don’t say anything to your mum. Literally:
Ma - but
Non - not
Dire - to say
Niente - nothing
A - to
Tua - your
Mamma - mum
K: What does your mum think about deep fried food Matteo?
M: [...]
K: Matteo’s mum isn’t a typical Neapolitan mamma in that sense, wanting to make sure you’re always stuffed with food, so we sometimes have to sneak in unhealthy food.
M: We also have a tradition of going out for a sneaky pizza without telling her! Now that you’ve heard a few different forms of the verb venire, let’s see what you can remember.
K: How do you say “I come”?
M: [...]
M: Vengo (x2) . Like vengo in treno - I come, or I’m coming, by train
K: What about “we come”?
[...]
M: Veniamo (x2) . Like veniamo in macchina - we come, or we’re coming, by car.
K: And how do you say “he or she comes”?
[...]
M: Viene (x2) . Like viene anche mia sorella - my sister is also coming.
[...]
K: And finally, how would you say “you (plural) come?”
[...]
M: Venite (x2). Like in se venite in macchina, c’è traffico - if you (plural) come by car, there’s traffic.
K: Let’s hear the whole conversation again:
M: A che ora arrivi?
K: Alle 7 ma vengo in treno quindi...vediamo
M: Ok. Io e mia mamma veniamo in stazione.
K: No, tranquillo: vengo in metro.
M: Ma viene anche mia sorella!
K: Ma se venite in macchina c'è traffico...
M: Beh…
K: Vengo in metro: è comoda
M: Ma...
K: e poi...vorrei prendere una graffa, ma non dire niente a tua mamma!
M: You’ve heard the different forms for venire , but as they’re each very different, it helps to see them written down in one place. K: If you head over to our blogpost, you can see all of the different forms of venire written down, including how to say “you (singular) come” and “they come”, which we didn’t mention here.
M: You’ll also see how to use venire in some other tenses, like the past, so you can say even more things in Italian.
K: You can click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 204.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Italian Verb Venire (To Come)
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz! Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian Verb Venire (To Come)
Vocabulary
Vieni spesso in Italia? = Do you come to Italy often?
Sono venuto a piedi = I came on foot.
Sono venuti in Toscana l’anno scorso = They came to Tuscany last year.
Verrete al cinema domani? = Will you (plural) come to the cinema tomorrow?
Vieni qui un secondo = Come here for a second
Quanto viene questo? = How much is this?
Io e mia mamma veniamo in stazione = My mum and I are coming to the station
Ma viene anche mia sorella! = But my sister is also coming!
Ma se venite in macchina c'è traffico = But if you (plural) come by car there’s traffic
Vengo in metro: è comoda = I’m coming by metro: it’s convenient
