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The Recent Past: venir de

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Learn The Recent Past: venir de for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Venir de plus an infinitive expresses what someone has just done.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

This is a Higher tier only topic, so there's no Foundation paper — only the Higher worksheet and mark scheme below.

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Venir de is used to say that something has just happened, and it takes the present tense despite describing the past. This is a Higher-only topic.

Je viens de manger means I have just eaten. The structure is the present tense of venir, then de, then an infinitive. The verb after de never changes — it stays in the infinitive.

Using a past tense here is wrong: je suis venu de manger does not mean I have just eaten. And in the imperfect, venir de means had just: je venais de manger means I had just eaten. So the tense of venir shifts the whole meaning back one step, while the infinitive stays put.

Revision notes

The structure

Present tense of venir, then de, then an infinitive.

Je viens de manger, tu viens de partir, il vient d'arriver. The de is compulsory and the following verb stays in the infinitive throughout.

Present tense, past meaning

Je viens de manger means I have just eaten.

The French verb is present even though the meaning is past. Using a past tense is wrong — je suis venu de manger would mean something quite different.

The imperfect version

Je venais de manger means I had just eaten.

Putting venir into the imperfect shifts the whole meaning one step further back. The infinitive after de never changes in either version.

Key points

  • Venir de means to have just done something.
  • The structure is venir, de, infinitive.
  • The present tense is used for a past meaning.
  • The infinitive after de never changes.
  • The imperfect of venir means had just.
  • A past tense of venir is wrong for just.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: I have just eaten. [2 marks]

Working

Je viens de mangeruse the present tense of venir with de
Manger stays in the infinitive after deexplain the infinitive

Example 2

Translate: I had just arrived. [2 marks]

Working

Je venais d'arriveruse the imperfect of venir
The imperfect shifts the meaning to had just, and de shortens to d' before the vowelexplain the tense and elision

Example 3

Explain why je suis venu de manger is wrong. [2 marks]

Working

Venir de takes the present tense to mean have juststate the rule
so the correct form is je viens de mangergive the correction

Common mistakes

  • Using a past tense of venir.

    The present means have just.

  • Omitting de.

    It is compulsory in the structure.

  • Putting the second verb in the past.

    It stays in the infinitive.

  • Forgetting the elision.

    De becomes d' before a vowel: d'arriver.

Exam tips

  • Use the present of venir for have just.
  • Use the imperfect for had just.
  • Keep the following verb in the infinitive.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Venir de
A structure meaning to have just done something.
Recent past
The meaning conveyed by venir de.
Infinitive
The unchanged verb following de.
Elision
De shortening to d' before a vowel.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.