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Verbes préfixés — prévenir, revenir, parvenir
One root builds ten verbs that conjugate identically and mean different things. These seven units take the families one at a time, and end with the prefix logic that lets you read a verb you have never met.
Lire un verbe préfixé
Prévenir, revenir, parvenir, survenir — how the prefix decides- French builds hundreds of verbs from a handful of roots.
- Venir alone produces revenir, devenir, prévenir, parvenir, survenir, convenir, intervenir, provenir, subvenir, se souvenir.
- They conjugate identically, they look almost identical, and they mean entirely different things.
- Students who learned venir = "to come" read all ten as some flavour of coming, and every one of them is wrong.
The prefixes, and what each one does
| Prefix | Does what | On venir | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| re- / r- | again, or back to the starting point | revenir — to come back | reprendre, remettre, rapporter |
| pré- | before, in advance | prévenir — to warn beforehand | prévoir, prédire, préparer |
| par- | through, all the way to completion | parvenir à — to manage to, to reach | parcourir, parfaire |
| sur- | over, above, in excess, unexpectedly | survenir — to happen suddenly | surprendre, surestimer, survivre |
| sous- / sub- | under, from below, insufficiently | subvenir à — to provide for | sous-estimer, soutenir, soumettre |
| con- / com- | with, together | convenir — to suit, to agree | comprendre, contenir, composer |
| inter- | between, stepping in | intervenir — to step in | interdire, interrompre |
| pro- | forward, out from a source | provenir de — to originate from | proposer, produire, promettre |
| dé- / dés- | undo, remove, reverse | — | défaire, déposer, décevoir |
| trans- | across, from one side to the other | — | transmettre, traduire, transporter |
| a- / ap- | towards the speaker, up against | advenir — to come to pass | apporter, amener, apprendre |
| em- / en- | away with you, into | — | emporter, emmener, entreprendre |
The one that catches everyone: prévenir
Two axes, not one
Prefix families carry a second distinction that decides the verb just as often: what kind of thing the verb takes. The porter family is for things you carry; the mener family is for people and animals you lead. Both translate as "bring" and "take".
The prefix does not change the conjugation — which is the good news
- Every verb in the venir family conjugates exactly like venir: je préviens, tu préviens, il prévient, nous prévenons, vous prévenez, ils préviennent.
- Every verb in the mettre family conjugates like mettre; every verb in the prendre family like prendre.
- Learning one irregular verb properly buys you ten.
The auxiliary can differ, though. Venir, revenir, devenir, parvenir, survenir and intervenir take être in the compound tenses; prévenir, convenir (in the sense of suiting) and subvenir take avoir. Je suis revenu but j’ai prévenu.
False friends inside the families
supporter is to bear or tolerate, not to support an argument — that is soutenir. Je ne supporte pas le bruit = I can’t stand the noise.
reporter is to postpone, not to report. La réunion est reportée = the meeting has been pushed back.
décevoir is to disappoint, not to deceive — that is tromper. Le film m’a déçu = the film disappointed me.
disposer de is to have something at your disposal, not to dispose of it. Nous disposons de trois semaines = we have three weeks available.
assister à is to attend, not to assist — that is aider. J’ai assisté à la réunion = I attended the meeting.
How to use this when you meet a verb you have never seen
On the reading paper you will meet verbs that are in nobody's vocabulary list. Split the word:
- strip the prefix, find the root, check the table above. Entrevoir = entre- (between, partially) + voir
- to glimpse. Réduire = ré- (back) + -duire (to lead)
- to lead back, to cut down. Percevoir = per- (through) + -cevoir (to take)
- to take in, to collect
This will not always land exactly, but it will land close enough to keep reading, which is the whole point on a timed paper. Unit V7 drills nothing else.
140 questions · 80 minutes
- The timer starts as soon as you press Start and does not pause.
- No answers and no explanations are shown until you submit.
- At 0:00 the test submits itself with whatever you have entered.
- Written answers are graded on spelling; accents are tolerated.