« arriver » elides in the first person: j’arrive.
arriver begins with a vowel, so je loses its e: j’arrive. Said as one word, it is also the single most useful thing you can shout in French — it means “I’m on my way” or “coming!”.
The verb is regular -ER. Note that arriving somewhere takes à: « j’arrive à Paris », « il arrive à la gare ».
💡 Focus at this level: Basics — arriving
1. « J’arrive ! » = I’m coming. Learn it as one word.
2. Arriving at a place takes « à ».
3. Elision everywhere. j’arrive, j’arrivais, j’arriverai.
Play the free French games → · Back to the full « arriver » chart →