arriver

Arriver is a French verb with several closely related senses. Primarily it means to reach a destination or to come to a place. It also has figurative uses, such as to happen or to occur, and in idiomatic construction it means to succeed in doing something when followed by an infinitive, as in arriver à faire quelque chose.

Etymology and forms: Arriver originates in Old French ariver and is a regular -er verb. It has cognates in other Romance languages that express the idea of reaching or obtaining. The word participates in standard French verb conjugation patterns.

Conjugation overview: Arriver is conjugated like a typical -er verb. In the present tense: j’arrive, tu arrives, il/elle arrive, nous arrivons, vous arrivez, ils/elles arrivent. The past participle is arrivé (masculine) or arrivée (feminine). In compound tenses the auxiliary is usually être: je suis arrivé, nous sommes arrivés. The imperfect is arrivais, arrivais, arrivait, arrivions, arriviez, arrivaient. The future and conditional forms are arriverai, arriveras, arrivera, etc., and arriverais, arriverais, arriverait, etc. The subjunctive forms include que j’arrive, que nous arrivions, etc.

Usage notes: Literal movement to a place uses être in the passé composé (Je suis arrivé à Paris). In extended senses it can mean “to occur” (Cela arrive souvent) and “to succeed in doing something” (Elle est arrivée à résoudre le problème). The expression il arrive que introduces a clause meaning “it happens that.”

Noun form: The related noun is arrivée, meaning arrival, a common nominal derivative.