venir Preterite Conjugation
venir — to come
Venir has a special 'uv-less' irregular stem (vin-) and uses no accents in the preterite: vine, viniste, vino.
venir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for specific instances where someone arrived or came to a place at a definite point in time, like arriving at a party or coming home yesterday.
Notes on venir in the Preterite
Venir is highly irregular here. It changes its stem to 'vin-' and uses the irregular preterite endings (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron). Note that there are no written accents.
Example Sentences
Vine a verte ayer pero no estabas.
I came to see you yesterday but you weren't there.
yo
Ella vino a la fiesta con su hermano.
She came to the party with her brother.
él/ella/usted
Mis amigos vinieron de muy lejos.
My friends came from very far away.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'vení' or 'venió'.
Correct: The correct forms are 'vine' and 'vino'.
Why: Learners often try to apply regular -ir endings, but venir follows the irregular 'vin-' stem pattern.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: vengo
Venir is a 'yo-go' verb with an e-ie stem change: vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen.
Imperfect
yo: venía
Venir is regular in the imperfect: venía, venías, venía, veníamos, veníais, venían.
Future
yo: vendré
Venir uses the irregular stem 'vendr-' before adding future endings: vendré, vendrás, vendrá.
Conditional
yo: vendría
The conditional uses the irregular 'vendr-' stem: vendría, vendrías, vendría.
Present Subjunctive
yo: venga
The subjunctive builds off the 'yo' form (vengo), resulting in: venga, vengas, venga, etc.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: viniera
Based on the preterite 'vinieron', the stem is 'vinier-': viniera, vinieras, viniera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: ven
The command for 'tú' is the short, irregular 'ven'. Other forms use the subjunctive.
Negative Imperative
yo: no vengas
Negative commands always use the present subjunctive: no vengas, no venga, no vengamos.