vim/vieste/veio/viemos/vieram

Pretérito Perfeito De Vir

Level 2

Use vim, vieste, veio, viemos, and vieram to say someone 'came' to a place in the past. This verb is highly irregular and often confused with 'ver' (to see).

How It Works

The Pretérito Perfeito of vir is one of the most irregular paradigms in Portuguese.

1. Conjugation Table:

  • Eu vim (I came)
  • Tu vieste (You came - informal)
  • Ele/Ela/Você veio (He/She/You came)
  • Nós viemos (We came)
  • Vós viestes (You all came - formal/regional)
  • Eles/Elas/Vocês vieram (They/You all came)

2. The 'Ver' vs. 'Vir' Trap:
Learners frequently confuse the past of vir (to come) with the past of ver (to see). Note these differences:

  • Vim (I came) vs. Vi (I saw)
  • Veio (He came) vs. Viu (He saw)
  • Viemos (We came) vs. Vimos (We saw / We come)

3. Future Subjunctive Confusion:
Be careful with the Future Subjunctive. The form vir is actually 'if I see' (from ver), while vier is 'if I come' (from vir). For example: 'Se eu vier amanhã' (If I come tomorrow).

4. Directionality:
Use these forms when the movement is toward the person speaking. If you are at home and someone arrived there, you say 'Ele veio aqui.' If you are talking about going somewhere else, you would use ir (to go).

5. Compound Verbs:
Verbs derived from vir follow this exact same irregular pattern. For example, intervir (to intervene) becomes interveio, and provir (to come from/originate) becomes proveio.

Examples (5)

  1. Eu vim de metrô para o trabalho hoje.

    I came to work by subway today.

    Word by Word: I came of subway for the work today.

    Uses 'vim' for the first person singular (eu) to show a completed action.

  2. Você veio à festa ontem à noite?

    Did you come to the party last night?

    Word by Word: You came to-the party yesterday at-the night?

    Uses 'veio' for the second person (você). Note the use of crase with the destination.

  3. Nós viemos aqui para te ajudar.

    We came here to help you.

    Word by Word: We came here for you to-help.

    Uses 'viemos' for the first person plural (nós). Be careful not to say 'vimos' here.

  4. Eles vieram de Portugal no ano passado.

    They came from Portugal last year.

    Word by Word: They came from Portugal in-the year past.

    Uses 'vieram' for the third person plural (eles).

  5. O governo interveio na crise econômica.

    The government intervened in the economic crisis.

    Word by Word: The government intervened in-the crisis economic.

    Demonstrates that compound verbs like 'intervir' follow the 'vir' pattern (inter + veio).

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'veiu' instead of 'veio'.

    Ele veiu cedo.
    Ele veio cedo.

    Learners often try to apply the regular -IR verb ending (-iu) to 'vir', but 'veio' is the only correct irregular form.

  • Confusing 'viu' (saw) with 'veio' (came).

    Ela viu aqui ontem.
    Ela veio aqui ontem.

    'Viu' is the past of 'ver' (to see). Even though they look similar, they have completely different meanings.

  • Using 'vimos' to mean 'we came'.

    Ontem nós vimos tarde.
    Ontem nós viemos tarde.

    'Vimos' can mean 'we saw' (past of ver) or 'we come' (present of vir). To say 'we came' (past), you must use 'viemos'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

vim/vieste/veio/viemos/vieramLevel 2Pretérito Perfeito De Vir

Learn This First

To learn the irregular preterite of 'vir' (to come), learners must first understand subject pronouns and the standard conjugation patterns for regular -ir verbs in both the present and preterite tenses to recognize the specific irregularities in this verb's stem and endings.

Words in This Pattern

vir