How to use ANDARE and VENIRE in Italian (Explanation + Exercises)

Sei ANDATO or sei VENUTO? What’s better: “Andare A” or “Andare DA“? Mmm… maybe “Andare IN“? My goodness, what a mess! But, don’t worry! Rocco and Graziana are here to help you!

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 ANDARE and VENIRE in Italian

The verbs ANDARE and VENIRE are very common in Italian, but they can also be very confusing.

Today we will make clear how and when to use them!

The verbs ANDARE and VENIRE both indicate a movement.

ANDARE means “moving towards a place or a person” and we need to use the preposition DA for people and the preposition A for places.

Examples:

⁃ Che fai? (What are you doing?)

⁃ Vado dal medico: credo di avere la febbre. (I’m going to the doctor: i think i have a fever)

⁃ Io invece sto andando al cinema a vedere un film e poi da Marco per una pizza. (I am going to the cinema to watch a movie and then I am going to go to Marco’s for a pizza)

⁃ Va bene. Divertiti! (Alright, have fun!)

VENIRE means “moving towards the place where the person who is talking or the person we are talking to is or is going to“, and we always use it with the preposition DA for people and with the preposition A for places.

Example:

⁃ Stasera vado a mangiare ad un ristorante… Vieni con me? (Tonight I’m going to a restaurant to eat… Will you come with me?)

⁃ Certo! Vengo volentieri al ristorante con te! (Sure! I’d love to come with you!)

Do you want to know other Italian verbs? Discover the differences between SENTIRE, ASCOLTARE, UDIRE and ORIGLIARE!

BE CAREFUL!

However there are some exceptions, that is places where the preposition IN is required instead of A!

These are:

–Nomi propri di Stati: in Francia, in Svezia…  (Names of States)

–Nomi propri di regioni: in Sardegna, in Baviera… (Names of regions)

–Luoghi generici come: (Generic locations)

Biblioteca (Library)

Banca (Bank)

Montagna (Mountain)

Campagna (Countryside)

Città (centro / periferia) (City-centre/suburb)

Pasticceria e simili (macelleria, gelateria…) (Pastry shop and other similar places like butcher shop, ice cream shop…)

Piscina (Swimming pool)

Garage

Pizzeria

Discoteca (Disco)

…

Example:

– Vai in discoteca? (Are you going to the disco?)

– No. Vado in pizzeria. (No. I’m going to a pizzeria)

N.B. 

There is something else you need to know: when we use ANDARE and VENIRE with the adverbs of place qui, qua, là, lì, laggiù, lassù, quaggiù, quassù (here, there, down there, up there , down here, up here), we never use the prepositions!

Example:

Vado lì (I’ll go there)

Vado quaggiù (I’ll go down here)

Vengo lassù (I’ll come up there)

Vengo là (I’ll come there) 

DON’T GET CONFUSED! 

VENIRE + DA also indicate the place of provenance. In this case, the preposition DA is always necessary, even with adverbs of place.

Example:

⁃ Dove sei stato? (Where have you been?)

⁃ Eh… vengo dall’ospedale! Il mio collega ha avuto un mancamento e l’ho accompagnato lì per alcuni controlli. Ma ora sta bene. (Eh… I come from the hospital! My colleague fainted and I brought him there for some checks. But now he is fine.)

⁃ Da dove vieni? (Where do you come from?)

⁃ Vengo da Bari  (I come from Bari)

⁃ Ma dai! Anche io vengo da lì! (Come on! That’s where I come from too!)

Discover all Italian phrasal verbs!

Let’s see if you’ve mastered the contents of this class. Have a go at completing the exercises!