Rentrer, Revenir, Retourner, Talking about the weather. Flashcards
Overview: rentrer
Rentrer literally means “to re-enter”.
It expresses the idea of returning to a point of departure.
We use this verb especially to mean go/come/get home, with home being your place of residence (house, flat, etc.) or your country of origin.
Rentrer can therefore be used alone; it’s not necessary to add à la maison because it is already implied.
Examples:
À quelle heure est-ce que tu rentres ce soir ?
Quelle longue journée de travail, je suis pressée de rentrer chez moi !
Emma habite au Venezuela depuis cinq ans, elle rentre tous les ans en France à Noël pour voir sa famille et ses amis.
Overview: revenir
Revenir means “come back”. We return to the same place where we are at the time of speaking; the destination is therefore the same as the point of departure.
Scenario 1:
Julien arrives at the cafe where his friends are waiting for him, but he realises that he has forgotten his wallet at the bakery where he stopped on the way. He says to his friends:
Je vais chercher mon porte-monnaie chez le boulanger, je reviens dans deux minutes = I’m going to get my wallet from the bakery, I’ll be back in two minutes.
Julien is going to make the trip to the bakery, then come back to the place he just left: the cafe. In this case, we use revenir, not retourner.
Scenario 2:
Mr and Mrs Lagrange are on holiday in Singapore. They really like it here, and, just before they leave, they say to each other:
Nous aimerions y revenir = We would love to come back
They are still in Singapore, so they use revenir. If they were in France, they would use retourner instead.
We also use revenir when we talk about visiting someone again.
Example:
Ma grand-mère m’a demandé quand est-ce que je pourrai revenir la voir.
Overview: retourner
Retourner means “to go back to a place we have already visited but are no longer in”. With retourner, the destination is different to where the speaker is currently located.
Scenario 1:
Hélène gets home and realises that she has forgotten her umbrella at the post office. She says:
Je retourne chercher mon parapluie.
Her husband is at home too. She tells him:
Je retourne chercher mon parapluie et je reviens.
She uses retourner to talk about going back a place where she no longer is (the post office), and revenir to say that she will come back to the place she is currently located (home).
Scenario 2:
Mr and Mrs Lagrange are on holiday in Singapore. They really like it there, and once they are home in France they say:
Nous aimerions y retourner = we would like to go back there.
If they were still in Singapore, they would use revenir.
Revenir (présent)
Présent
je reviens (I will come back….)
tu reviens (You come back….?)
il/elle revient
nous revenons
vous revenez
ils/elles reviennent
Revenir (passe compose)
Using etre /come/go etc
Passé composé
je suis revenu = I returned…..I came back
Je suis revenu la semaine dernière = I came back last week
tu es revenu = You came back……? tu es revenu quand?
il est revenu
elle est revenu
nous sommes revenus
vous êtes revenus
ils sont revenus
elles sont revenues
nous sommes revenus il y a deux semaines = we came back two weeks ago.
Revenir (futur)
Futur
Je vais revenir (I will return/I will come back = speaking about returning to the same place you are at now)
Tu vas revenir (You will come back….?)
il/elle va revenir
nous allons revenir
vous allez revenir
ils/elle vont revenir
Rentrer (présent)
Présent
je rentre (I go home…….”je rentre la semaine prochaine”)
tu rentres (You come home…..)
il/elle rentre
nous rentrons (we come home/we are going back home)
vous rentrez
ils/elles rentrent
Rentrer (passe compose)
Always use “etre” for coming and going.
Passé composé
je suis rentré (I came back home….)
tu es rentré (You came back home…./You are back home)
il/elle est rentré
nous somme rentré
vous êtes rentré
ils/elles sont rentré
Rentrer (futur)
Futur
Je vais rentrer = I am going home
Tu vas rentrer = You are going home
il/elle va rentrer
nous allons rentrer = We are going home…
vous allez rentrer
ils/elles vont rentrer
Retourner (présent)
Présent (Speaking about being somewhere presently and returning to another place….)
je retourne = I return
tu retournes = You return
il/elle retourne
nous retournons = We return
vous retournez
ils/elles retournent
Retourner (passe compose)
Remember always use “etre” when coming and going
Passé composé
je suis retourné = I returned…
tu es retourné = You returned…
il est retourné
elle est retournée
nous sommes retournés = We returned…/ We are back…
vous êtes retournés
ils sont retournés
elles sont retournées
Retourner (futur)
Futur
Je vais retourner = I will return
Tu vas retourner = You will return…..?
il/elle va retourner
nous allons retourner = We will return
Nous allons retourner a St Barth la semaine prochaine = We are going back to St Barts next week.
vous allez retourner
ils/elles vont retourner
Talking about the weather
Always use “Il fait…. (e elle fai…)
Il fait beau = the weather is nice/Il fait très beau aujourd’hui = the weather is very nice today.
Il fait chaud = it’s hot
Il fait froid = it’s cold
il fait venteux (vont err) = it’s windy
It’s so good to be back
“It’s so good” = c’est si bon
c’est si bon d’être de retour
de retour = back
retour = return
c’est si bon = it’s so good
c’est tellement bon = = it’s so good
