French guides · Verb tables + audio
Arriver: to arrive, to happen, and to manage it.
Arriver means “to arrive”, and it is a regular -er verb that happens to take être in the past. Two other uses make it worth knowing properly: arriver à faire quelque chose is how French says “to manage to do something”, and il arrive que… is how it says “sometimes it happens that…”. Both are everyday, and neither is obvious from the translation.
Présent — regular, and elided
Stem arriv- with the standard endings. Starting with a vowel, it takes j’ and liaises after nous and vous.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’arrive | I arrive | |
| tu arrives | you arrive | |
| il / elle arrive | he / she arrives | |
| nous arrivons | we arrive | |
| vous arrivez | you arrive | |
| ils / elles arrivent | they arrive |
On its own this is “I’m on my way” or “coming!” — shouted from another room, or said when you are about to leave to meet somebody. It does not mean you have arrived. That is je suis arrivé.
Passé composé — with être, so it agrees
Arriver is on the short list of movement verbs that take être rather than avoir, so the participle agrees with the subject: je suis arrivé, elle est arrivée, ils sont arrivés.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je suis arrivé(e) | I arrived / have arrived | |
| tu es arrivé(e) | you arrived / have arrived | |
| il / elle est arrivé(e) | he / she arrived / have arrived | |
| nous sommes arrivé(e)s | we arrived / have arrived | |
| vous êtes arrivé(e)(s) | you arrived / have arrived | |
| ils / elles sont arrivé(e)s | they arrived / have arrived |
Aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, retourner, passer — plus every reflexive verb. Most of them are about movement or a change of state, which is the thread that holds the list together.
Arrivé, arrivée, arrivés and arrivées are pronounced identically. This is a writing rule only — but it is marked in every exam.
Arriver à — to manage to
This is the use you will hear most often in conversation, and it has nothing to do with arriving anywhere.
| French | Means | |
|---|---|---|
| je n’arrive pas à dormir | I can’t get to sleep | the most common use of all |
| tu y arrives ? | are you managing? | offering help |
| j’arrive à comprendre | I’m managing to understand | |
| qu’est-ce qui est arrivé ? | what happened? | the “to happen” sense |
| ça arrive | it happens | a shrug — “these things happen” |
Je ne peux pas dormir says something is preventing you. Je n’arrive pas à dormir says you are trying and failing. French keeps the two apart, and the second is what you want for insomnia, a stuck lid, or a sentence you cannot finish.
Il arrive qu’il soit en retard — “he’s sometimes late”. The impersonal il arrive que expresses occasional occurrence and always triggers the subjunctive.
Imparfait — was arriving
J’arrivais — often the background to something else: j’arrivais quand il est parti.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’arrivais | I used to arrive / was arriving | |
| tu arrivais | you used to arrive / was arriving | |
| il / elle arrivait | he / she used to arrive / was arriving | |
| nous arrivions | we used to arrive / was arriving | |
| vous arriviez | you used to arrive / was arriving | |
| ils / elles arrivaient | they used to arrive / was arriving |
Futur and conditionnel
Full infinitive as stem: j’arriverai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’arriverai | I will arrive | |
| tu arriveras | you will arrive | |
| il / elle arrivera | he / she will arrive | |
| nous arriverons | we will arrive | |
| vous arriverez | you will arrive | |
| ils / elles arriveront | they will arrive |
Conditionnel — would arrive
J’arriverais vers huit heures — “I’d get there around eight”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’arriverais | I would arrive | |
| tu arriverais | you would arrive | |
| il / elle arriverait | he / she would arrive | |
| nous arriverions | we would arrive | |
| vous arriveriez | you would arrive | |
| ils / elles arriveraient | they would arrive |
Subjonctif — regular
Identical to the présent in four forms. Common after avant que: avant qu’il arrive.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’arrive | (that) I arrive | |
| tu arrives | (that) you arrive | |
| il / elle arrive | (that) he / she arrive | |
| nous arrivions | (that) we arrive | |
| vous arriviez | (that) you arrive | |
| ils / elles arrivent | (that) they arrive |
Impératif — rare
Arrive ! is unusual — telling someone to arrive is odd in any language. Arrivez à l’heure, “be on time”, is the realistic version.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| arrive ! | arrive! (to one person you know) | |
| arrivons ! | let’s arrive! | |
| arrivez ! | arrive! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had arrived
J’étais arrivé — être in the imparfait, participle still agreeing.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’étais arrivé(e) | I had arrived | |
| tu étais arrivé(e) | you had arrived | |
| il / elle était arrivé(e) | he / she had arrived | |
| nous étions arrivé(e)s | we had arrived | |
| vous étiez arrivé(e)(s) | you had arrived | |
| ils / elles étaient arrivé(e)s | they had arrived |
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Quick answers
Arriver, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.