Revenir Verb Conjugation Tables With Translations & Real Life Examples

If you’re searching for revenir verb conjugation, you’re dealing with a core French verb that expresses returning, coming back, and repetition in everyday speech. Revenir appears constantly in conversations, stories, and explanations, which makes mastering its conjugation essential. This guide walks through every tense and mood of revenir, explains how each one is used, and provides clear translations and real-life examples that reflect how English actually works.

Venir Verb Conjugation Tables With Translations & Real Life Examples

Let’s start by understanding how revenir behaves.

What You Need To Know Before Conjugating Revenir

Revenir means to come back / to return. It belongs to the venir verb family, follows the same stem patterns, and uses être in compound tenses. It is one of DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs. Its past participle revenu agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is used to express facts, real actions, habits, and events presented as certain.

Present Tense (Présent)

The present tense describes someone returning now, returning regularly, or a general truth. In English, it usually translates as “come back / return” or “am/is/are coming back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	reviens	I come back / I am coming back
Tu	reviens	you come back / you are coming back
Il / Elle / On	revient	he / she comes back
Nous	revenons	we come back / we are coming back
Vous	revenez	you come back / you are coming back
Ils / Elles	reviennent	they come back / they are coming back

Examples:

• Je reviens demain. → I’m coming back tomorrow.
• Elle revient souvent ici. → She often comes back here.
• Ils reviennent tard. → They are coming back late.

Now that the present is clear, let’s see how French talks about returning in the past.

Imperfect Tense (Imparfait)

The imperfect tense describes ongoing or habitual returns in the past or provides background context. In English, it often becomes “was coming back” or “used to come back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	revenais	I was coming back / I used to come back
Tu	revenais	you were coming back
Il / Elle / On	revenait	he / she was coming back
Nous	revenions	we were coming back
Vous	reveniez	you were coming back
Ils / Elles	revenaient	they were coming back

Examples:

• Je revenais toujours ici. → I used to come back here.
• Elle revenait tard le soir. → She was coming back late at night.
• Ils revenaient chaque été. → They came back every summer.

To express a completed return, French uses the passé composé.

Passé Composé

The passé composé expresses a completed return with a clear endpoint. Since revenir uses être, the past participle revenu must agree. In English, this translates as “came back” or “have come back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	suis revenu(e)	I came back / I have come back
Tu	es revenu(e)	you came back
Il / Elle / On	est revenu(e)	he / she came back
Nous	sommes revenu(e)s	we came back
Vous	êtes revenu(e)(s)	you came back
Ils / Elles	sont revenu(e)s	they came back

Examples:

• Elle est revenue hier. → She came back yesterday.
• Nous sommes revenus tôt. → We came back early.
• Ils sont revenus ensemble. → They came back together.

When a return happened before another past action, French uses the plus-que-parfait.

Plus-Que-Parfait

The plus-que-parfait shows that someone had already come back before another past event. In English, it usually translates as “had come back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	étais revenu(e)	I had come back
Tu	étais revenu(e)	you had come back
Il / Elle / On	était revenu(e)	he / she had come back
Nous	étions revenu(e)s	we had come back
Vous	étiez revenu(e)(s)	you had come back
Ils / Elles	étaient revenu(e)s	they had come back

Examples:

• J’étais revenu avant toi. → I had come back before you.
• Elle était revenue trop tôt. → She had come back too early.
• Nous étions revenus exprès. → We had come back on purpose.

Some tenses are mainly useful for reading rather than speaking.

Passé Simple (Rare – Literary)

The passé simple is not used in spoken French. You will mainly see it in novels and formal writing, where it replaces the passé composé.

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	revins	I came back
Tu	revins	you came back
Il / Elle / On	revint	he / she came back
Nous	revînmes	we came back
Vous	revîntes	you came back
Ils / Elles	revinrent	they came back

Examples:

• Il revint au village. → He came back to the village.
• Elle revint seule. → She came back alone.
• Ils revinrent tard. → They came back late.

French also allows you to talk about returning in the future.

Simple Future (Futur Simple)

The future tense expresses actions that will happen later. Revenir uses the stem reviendr-, the same stem used in the conditional.

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	reviendrai	I will come back
Tu	reviendras	you will come back
Il / Elle / On	reviendra	he / she will come back
Nous	reviendrons	we will come back
Vous	reviendrez	you will come back
Ils / Elles	reviendront	they will come back

Examples:

• Je reviendrai demain. → I will come back tomorrow.
• Elle reviendra plus tard. → She will come back later.
• Nous reviendrons ensemble. → We will come back together.

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive is used to express necessity, desire, doubt, emotion, or judgment, especially when talking about someone returning.

Present Subjunctive

In English, this structure usually becomes “for someone to come back” or “that someone should come back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Que je	revienne	for me to come back / that I should come back
Que tu	reviennes	for you to come back / that you should come back
Qu’il / elle / on	revienne	for him/her to come back / that he/she should come back
Que nous	revenions	for us to come back / that we should come back
Que vous	reveniez	for you to come back / that you should come back
Qu’ils / elles	reviennent	for them to come back / that they should come back

Examples:

• Il faut que je revienne. → I need to come back.
• Je veux qu’elle revienne. → I want her to come back.
• Bien qu’ils reviennent tard… → Although they come back late…

Past Subjunctive

The past subjunctive is used when the return happened before the main verb. In English, this often becomes “to have come back.”

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Que je	sois revenu(e)	for me to have come back
Que tu	sois revenu(e)	for you to have come back
Qu’il / elle / on	soit revenu(e)	for him/her to have come back
Que nous	soyons revenu(e)s	for us to have come back
Que vous	soyez revenu(e)(s)	for you to have come back
Qu’ils / elles	soient revenu(e)s	for them to have come back

Examples:

• Je regrette qu’il soit revenu. → I regret that he came back.
• Bien qu’elle soit revenue… → Although she came back…
• Je suis content qu’ils soient revenus. → I’m glad they came back.

Conditional Mood

The conditional expresses hypothetical returns, polite suggestions, or imagined situations.

Present Conditional

Subject	Conjugation	English Translation
Je	reviendrais	I would come back
Tu	reviendrais	you would come back
Il / Elle / On	reviendrait	he / she would come back
Nous	reviendrions	we would come back
Vous	reviendriez	you would come back
Ils / Elles	reviendraient	they would come back

Examples:

• Je reviendrais si je pouvais. → I would come back if I could.
• Elle reviendrait avec toi. → She would come back with you.
• Nous reviendrions plus tôt. → We would come back earlier.

Imperative Mood

The imperative is used to give instructions, encouragement, or orders related to returning.

Present Imperative

Form	Conjugation	English Translation
(Tu)	reviens	come back
(Nous)	revenons	let’s come back
(Vous)	revenez	come back (formal/plural)

Examples:

• Reviens ici. → Come back here.
• Revenons plus tard. → Let’s come back later.
• Revenez demain. → Come back tomorrow.

Final Takeaway

The revenir verb conjugation is essential for expressing return, repetition, and continuity in French. Once each tense is connected to its real meaning and natural English translation, revenir becomes easy to recognize, easy to use, and incredibly useful in everyday communication.