Aller, Venir, Retourner, Revenir, Rentrer To go (back), to come (back

April 2012 Grammar Lesson: Aller, Venir, Retourner, Revenir, Rentrer
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Aller, Venir, Retourner, Revenir, Rentrer
To go (back), to come (back), to return
All these notions are quite difficult to understand in French because you cannot just
translate from English. The choice of verb depends on the context: where you are
at now, where you are going, for how long, and where home (or the place you are
staying at) is. I often hear English speakers use “retourner” a lot, because it sounds
so much like “to return”. But most of the time, it is wrong. To return is more likely
to be “revenir” or “rentrer”. “Retourner” means to go back for a limited time (often
because you forgot something there).
1- Venir (to come HERE) and Revenir (to come back, to return HERE)
This is a movement towards you, and where you are now.
Example:
Maintenant, je suis chez Paul. Pierre va venir (ici) dans une heure.
Now, I’m at Paul’s. Pierre is coming (here, towards me) in an hour.
Example:
Je pars faire des courses, mais je reviens dans 20 minutes.
I’m leaving to run errands, but I’m coming back (here, where I am now) in 20
minutes.
Think French - avril 2012
2 – Aller (to go)
This is a movement towards a place your are NOT now.
Example:
Je vais chez Pierre. I am going to Pierre’s.
Aller is very used in French, we use it where English would often use “to visit” (use
the link to see my blog post about this), or “to attend” and in many expressions. It’s
a very irregular verb - use my audio verb drills to memorize it.
3 – Retourner (to go back, to return for a limited time, to run by a place)
This means to return, to go back, but only for a limited time. Either that you have
forgotten something there, or that you are returning for a certain time, but leaving
again.
Example:
Ce matin, je suis allée chez Pierre. J’ai oublié mon parapluie chez lui. Je vais y retourner ce soir pour prendre mon parapluie (et puis rentrer chez moi).
This morning I went to Pierre’s. I forgot my umbrella there. I am going to go back
tonight to get my umbrella - I’m going to pop by tonight to get my umbrell (and then
I’ll go home).
Example 2 :
Maintenant je suis à Paris. Demain, je pars en Angleterre. Je vais y rester une semaine (et puis je reviendrai en France). Mais je retournerai à Londres dans 2 mois.
Now, I’m in Paris. Tomorrow, I’m leaving for England. I’ll stay a week there (then I’ll
return to France). But I’ll go back to London in 2 months.
BTW: to say to return something, we use “rendre” or “rapporter”.
Example:
Je dois rendre ce livre à Pierre.
I have to return this book to Pierre.
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April 2012 Grammar Lesson: Aller, Venir, Retourner, Revenir, Rentrer
4 – Rentrer (to return, go/come back HOME)
This means to return, to go/come back HOME, or the place you are staying at. Renter
usually implies that you are not going out again.
Example:
Je pars au bureau à 9 h et je rentre à 18h.
I leave for the office at 9 AM and go back (home) at 6 PM.
Example 2 :
Normalement, j’habite à Paris. Maintenant je suis à Londres. Je vais aller en Italie, et
puis je rentrerai le 3 novembre.
Usually I live in Paris. Now I am in London. I’m going to Italy, and I’ll go back home (to
Paris) on November 3rd.
We often also use “rentrer” instead of “entrer” to say to enter a place. It’s probably a
mistake, but it’s a very common one :-)
Contrast aller et venir
a) J’aime ce restaurant et je pense que je vais venir très souvent. You are talking to the
owner and saying you’ll come HERE often.
b) J’aime ce restaurant et je pense que je vais y aller souvent. You are talking to your
friend about going to this restaurant often.
Contrast revenir, rentrer, retourner
a) Maintenant je suis chez Paul. Pierre va venir dans 1 heure (chez Paul). Moi, je vais
faire des courses mais je vais revenir dans une heure (chez Paul).
Now, I’m at Paul’s. Pierre is coming in one hour (at Paul’s). I’m going to run errands, but
I’ll come back in one hour (at Paul’s).
b) Maintenant je suis chez Paul. Je vais rentrer dans une heure. Avant, je dois retourner a mon travail parce que j’ai oublié mes clefs.
Now I’m at Paul’s. I’ll go back home in one hour. Before, I have to go back to my work
because I forgot my keys there.
Think French - avril 2012