venir de ( vuh-neer ), verbe

to come from, derive from, hail from

je viens
tu* viens
il, elle, on vient
nous venons
vous venez
ils, elles viennent

venant, coming
venu , came

Les grandes pensées viennent du coeur. - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de VAUVENARGUES, Réflexions
Great thoughts come from the heart.

Celui qui quitte votre parti pour aller dans au autre est us traître. Celui qui vient d’un autre part pour rejoindre le vôtre est un converti. - Georges Clemenceau
One who leaves your party to join another is a traitor. One who come from another to join yours is a convert.

venir de + infinitive means "having just done something". It's very handy and an often-used expression :)

Ça vient d'arriver = It happened just now

Je viens de l'entendre = I just heard about it

Thanks! It does seem handy. Is it always translated as past? The verb venir would give it a past sense, I suppose. In English it is a little awkward to say "I am just come/ing from hearing it." Perhaps a British person would say that.

I found these other examples:

J'avais commencé l'autre jour une lettre pour toi ; je viens de la chercher inutilement. . . – François Chateaubriand, Mémoires d’outre-tombe.
I had begun a letter for you the other day; I have just looked for it, -futilely.

Je viens de la voir passer tout habillée de vert. – Edouard Fournier
I just saw her pass by all dressed in green.

. . . nous venons d’'être informés . . . Louis Fréchette
we have just been informed.

It's one of those phrases that doesn't make sense when you try to translate it literally.

I do think it always refers to something in the past, albeit the very near past, as having just happened. If something is happening presently it's better to use a present tense:

Ça arrive... je l'entends...

OR- If you are in the middle of doing something there is another option. You could say "en train de":

Je suis en train d'écouter la nouvelle (I'm listening to OR I'm in the middle of listening to the news)

arriver (ah-ree-v h), v.

1. to arrive, come

il arrive de voyage = he is just back from a journey
Les voilà qui arrivent = here they come
Arrivez! = Come on ! (familiar)
Arriver à la vérité = to arrive at, get at the truth
Arriver à bon port = to arrive safely

2. to succeed

Avec du courage on arrive à tout. = With courage one can achieve anything.
Il n’arrivera jamais à rien. = He will never achieve anything.

3. to happen

Cela arrive tous les jours. = It happens every day.
Il m’arrive souvent d’oublier. = I often forget.
Faire arriver = to cause or bring about something ; Il a fait arriver un accident = He has caused an accident.

Tout arrive en France. -François de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Maximes, Réflexions morales
Everything happens in France.

peu (puh)

un peu = a little, a bit
bien peu = precious little, very little
à peu prés = about (approximately) , pretty much
à peu prés le même = about the same
dans peu de temps = in a short time, in a while
il y a peu de temps = not long ago
être de peu = to be of little importance, without value
quelque peu = somewhat, slightly (adv)


« Attends un peu! » = wait a minute!

« Beaucoup de bruit, peu de fruit. » - French proverb
Much noise, little fruit.

« Nous n'avons eu que bien peu à faire. » We have had only very little to do.

« C’est peu de servir l’homme, il faut encore lui plaire. » Florian, Fables, 1792, p.107
It s not enough to serve man, you must please him too.

Il y a un peu d’eau pour l’éléphant.

Oui- peut-être il a très soif!

(Maybe he's really thirsty!)

Ou peut-être il veut un bain moussant! :)

(Or maybe he wants a bubble bath!)

Un bain moussant? LOL Où pourrait-il en trouver un en Afrique? Est-ce qu'il y a une telle chose-là? Un bain de luxe, bien sûr!

Trans- A bubble bath? LOL Where could he find one of those in Africa? Is there such a thing there? A luxurious bath, for sure!