How to use Andare and Venire, ilazed, italian verbs, andare, venire

In today’s article called “How to use Andare and Venire”, I talk about these basic verbs because sometimes they can make students struggle to use them properly.

If you too think that sometimes for you is not clear how to use these verbs, keep reading the following lines. I am sure that you’ll find interesting hints! :)

Andare and venire (to go and to come) are very common verbs that all those who learn Italian have to deal with from the very beginning.

By this I don’t mean that they are a piece of cake, in fact, remember that they are still irregular verbs and, once we have learned their conjugation our work is far from done, because there is still so much more to consider.

I decided to write this article because I have noticed that often even people who speak Italian well and who are now at ease with this language tend not so much to confuse these two verbs, but rather use them improperly, thus creating confusion in those who listen to them.

And so, instead of repeating this error, let’s take some action with a deeper explanation of the use of these two verbs.

Andare and Venire

Perhaps it is useless to point this out but one thing I would like to do is to use English to clarify their meaning:

Andare: to go
Venire: to come

Once this is clear, it is good to explain how both verbs presuppose a movement, i.e., a displacement from point A to point B. Given this premise, in order to choose the most appropriate verb, it is fundamental to understand who is sending the message and who is receiving it.

Let’s quickly make a clarifying example:

Mrs. Maria finishes work and calls her husband to let him know she is returning home.

She could say two things:

Ho finito di lavorare e ora vado a casa. = I’ve finished work and now I’m going home.
Ho finito di lavorare e ora vengo a casa. = I’m done working and now I’m coming home.

Did you spot the difference?

In both cases it is clear that Mrs. Maria is on her way home, but in the first case it is clear that she has given notice to her husband, but he is not at home. Maybe he is still at work, maybe he is out of town, maybe he will come home after her. In short, we don’t care where this man is and when he will come home, the fact is that once Maria reaches home, she will be alone, maybe she will find her children, but certainly not him.

In the second sentence, on the other hand, it is clear that Mrs. Maria is going to the house where she will find her husband. In fact, “vengo a casa” for Mrs. Maria is equivalent to saying: “I’ll join you in our home”.

From what has been said so far, it is clear how the sender and the receiver are fundamental to understanding the relationship between the people involved and the use of the selected verb.

Altri casi ed esempi

When to use Andare:

1. When you are referring to someone who is there with you and needs to get to the same place as you.

- Siete pronti bambini? Allora andiamo subito in pasticceria! = Are you ready kids? Then let’s go to the bakery right now!
- Siii, andiamo! = Yeees, let’s go!

2. When you are talking to someone who doesn’t have to get to the same place as you.

- Domani finalmente andrò alle Maldive. Non vedo l’ora. = I’m finally going to the Maldives tomorrow. I can’t wait.
- Beata te! Ti invidio da morire. = Lucky you! I envy you so much.

3. When you’re talking to someone about other people who have to get to a certain place.

- Ti ricordi di Andrea? Andrà in Svezia tra 2 settimane. = Do you remember Andrea? She’s going to Sweden in 2 weeks.
- Bello, spero che si diverta! = Dude, I hope he has a great time!

When to use Venire:

1. When you propose to someone to do something with you.

- Ti va di venire alla festa del mio amico sabato sera? = Would you like to come to my friend’s party on Saturday night?
- Sì, volentieri. Lo conosco? = Yes, I’d love to. Do I know him?

2. When you speak directly to someone who you ask to join you somewhere.

- Ehi, sono al pub. Ci vieni anche tu? = Hey, I’m at the pub. Are you coming too?
- Sì. Vengo tra poco. = Yes. I’ll be there shortly.

3. When you’re talking to someone about other people who need to join you or other people

- I miei amici vengono a casa mia per cena. = My friends are coming over for dinner.
- Quali amici verranno? = Which friends are coming?

- Tua sorella verrà a trovarti per le vacanze? = Is your sister coming to visit you for the holidays?
- Sì, verrà per una settimana il mese prossimo. = Yes, she is coming for a week next month.

As you can see, the choice of the verb andare or venire makes the sentence take a very specific direction.

Let’s go back to an example that was presented earlier:

Domani finalmente andrò alle Maldive. Non vedo l’ora. = I’m finally going to the Maldives tomorrow. I can’t wait.

The response given to this statement could use both of the verbs andare and venire. Let’s take a look together at what I mean:

Beata te! Vorrei venirci anch’io. [which means I would like to go on this trip to the Maldives with the person I am talking to]

Beata te! Vorrei andarci anch’io! [which means I’d like to go on a trip to the Maldives too, but not necessarily with the person I am talking to, maybe with someone else]

Is the difference clear? As previously mentioned, both verbs indicate a move from one place to another, however, they actually are not interchangeable, because what andare and venire try to communicate is rather clear and specific.

Common Mistakes

I thought it was very important to talk about this topic that in some ways may seem very trivial, because I often happen to hear sentences that are a bit strange during my classes. For example, a student might say sentences to me like the following:

– Che bello questa estate vengo in Francia!

For me this is an understandable but not very logical sentence, because in this case the person speaking to me must use andare and not venire.

Why? Because venire presupposes reaching someone or reaching the place (also in a broader sense, such as a country) where someone is. So, knowing that I am Italian and that I live in Italy it would have been more correct to say:

– Vado in Francia [which implies that I’m not there]

or even

– Vengo in Italia o al massimo in Europa [since I live in Italy, a country which is a part of the European Union]

So, you can understand how in cases like this, using a verb which is not suitable for what we want to express can generate a lot of confusion. The use of the right verb is therefore of fundamental importance to convey a clear and unambiguous message.

Conclusion

In this article I felt the need to talk about the verbs andare and venire, first of all because they are very common verbs and everyone uses them from their very first Italian lessons, and secondly because I noticed, to my great surprise, a bit of confusion even in those students who already have an advanced level.

The advice I can give you in order to best master them is to have a clear understanding of who is speaking, who is receiving the message and who is being spoken about, so as to understand the relationship between the interlocutors and avoid using the wrong verb.

Another piece of advice that I always give you, and that I would like to emphasize here as well, is to try to create sentences with andare and venire for each of the cases mentioned above. In this way, having a clear awareness of what you want to express and with a little practice, I am sure you will learn to choose the verb that best suits the situation you want to communicate.