Arriver is one of the most common French verbs.

It's a regular -ER verb but takes tre in the compound tenses. Arriver literally means "to arrive," but is also used in some idiomatic expressions and as an impersonal verb. Arriver usually means "to arrive": quelle heure vont-ils arriver ? What time will they arrive? Je suis arriv midi I arrived at noon Arriver can also mean "to come, be coming, be on one's way." J'arrive ! I'm coming! I'll be right there/back! Le voici qui arrive Here he comes now

Arriver Arriver plus a noun means "to reach, attain, get to," literally and figuratively: Il est vite arriv la conclusion vidente He quickly reached the obvious conclusion L'eau m'arrive jusqu'aux chevilles The water reaches/comes up to my ankles

Arriver plus an infinitive means "to manage to do, succeed in doing": Je n'arrive pas trouver mes cls I can't (manage to) find my keys David est arriv le faire tout seul David succeeded in doing by himself

To happen Arriver can mean "to happen": Ce sont des choses qui arrivent These things happen Cela ne m'arrivera plus I won't let that happen (to me) again Arriver can also be used impersonally to mean "to happen, occur, be." The difference between this and the preceding examples is that impersonal verbs cannot have any subject other than the impersonal pronoun il:

Il est arriv un accident There's been an accident Quoi qu'il arrive Whatever happens

Expressions with Arriver

Conjugations Present tense j'arrive tu arrives il arrive nous arrivons vous arrivez ils arrivent