55 Mais elle se trompe

venir de

Non, à côté de chez moi il y a un complexe multisalles qui vient d‘ouvrir. No, next to my place there’s a multiplex that has just opened.

The French construction “venir de” + infinitive is used to express recent past actions. ¹

Structure and Meaning

“Venir de” + infinitive is used to say “to have just done something” in French. It’s equivalent to the English construction “have/has just + past participle”.

The basic structure is:

Conjugated form of “venir” + “de” + infinitive verb

For example:

• Je viens de finir mon livre. (I have just finished my book.)
• Nous venons d’apprendre la nouvelle. (We have just heard the news.)

Conjugation

“Venir” is conjugated in the present tense according to the subject:

• Je viens de
• Tu viens de
• Il/Elle/On vient de
• Nous venons de
• Vous venez de
• Ils/Elles viennent de

Usage

This construction is used to talk about actions that happened in the very recent past. It’s like a whole new tense in French, and it’s often easier to use than other past tenses like passé composé.

Contraction

The “de” contracts to “d’” before verbs starting with a vowel or silent h:

• Je viens d’arriver. (I have just arrived.)

Other Tenses

While most commonly used in the present tense, “venir de” can also be used in the imperfect tense to say “had just done” something:

• Je venais de terminer ce puzzle quand… (I had just finished this puzzle when…)

Additional Note

It’s important to note that “venir de” has another meaning when used with locations rather than verbs. In that case, it means “to come from” a place.

se passer vs. passer

• passer to pass
• se passer to happen

Le film se passe à Paris, où je passe mes vacances. The film takes place in Paris, where I spend my holidays.

s’entendre

• entendre to hear
  • J’ai entendu un bruit. I heard a noise.
  • Un jour, la femme est seule à la maison lorsqu’elle entend des bruits étanges dehors. One day, the woman is alone in the house when she hears strange noises outside.
• entendu I see, I understand
  • Venez tôt demain. - Entendu. Come early tomorrow. - Will do.
• s’entendre
  • simple reflexive: to hear oneself
    • Faites moins de bruit, je ne m’entends pas parler au téléphone. Make less noise, I can’t hear myself speaking on the phone.
  • idiomatic pronominal verb: to reach an agreement, to get on well
    • Je m’entends très bien avec le frère de Jacques. I get on well with Jacques’ brother.
    • C’est l’histoire d’un vieux couple qui, en apparence, s’entend à merveille. It’s the story of an old couple who, apparently, get on marvellously.

tromper

• se tromper to make a mistake
  • Mais elle se trompe. But she is mistaken!
• tromper to deceive, mislead, to be unfaithful to, to cheat on (informal)
  • Le vendeur m’a trompé sur le prix des appels téléphoniques. The salesman misled me about the price of phone calls.
  • Si une femme trompe son mari, c’est souvent parce que le mari trompe sa femme. If a wife is unfaithful to her husband, it’s often because the husband is cheating on his wife.

battre

• Il a battu les records d’audience pour un film d’épouvante. It has broken viewing records for a horror movie.
• Elle se bat avec lui mais il est beaucoup plus fort et il la bat à coups de bâton. She fights with him but he is much stronger and he hits her with a stick.
• Nous avons battu tous les records de froid pour un mois de décembre. We have broken all the cold-temperature records for a month of December.

un coup

• un coup d’œil a quick look
• donner un coup de main à quelqu’un to give somebody a hand
• un coup a blow, a knock
  • un coup de bâton a blow with a stick
  • J’ai pris un coup sur la tête. I banged my head.
  • Elle le battait à coups de brosse. She was hitting him with a brush.

Vocabulaire