🖨️ Print-friendly: use Ctrl+P (⌘P) or your browser menu to print this chart cleanly.
Placing an action on the timeline — no new tense needed. This guide explains Venir de, être en train de, aller + infinitif in French with clear rules, real examples and practice for every CEFR level. For instance: « Je viens de manger » — I just ate.
Placing an action on the timeline — no new tense needed
| Quand ? | Formule | Exemple | Traduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⬅️ just happened | venir de + inf | Je viens de manger. | I just ate. |
| ● happening now | être en train de + inf | Je suis en train de travailler. | I’m (busy) working. |
| ➡️ about to | être sur le point de + inf | Le train est sur le point de partir. | The train is about to leave. |
| ➡️➡️ going to | aller + inf | Je vais appeler ce soir. | I’m going to call tonight. |
| Exemple | Traduction |
|---|---|
| Je venais de partir quand tu as appelé. | I had just left when you called. |
| Il était en train de dormir. | He was (busy) sleeping. |
| On allait sortir quand il a plu. | We were about to go out when it rained. |
💡 Pourquoi c’est génial
Four timeline nuances with ZERO new conjugation — you only conjugate venir, être and aller in the present or imparfait.
« en train » has nothing to do with trains — it means “in the process of”.
venir de + infinitive ≠ venir de + place : je viens de Paris (origin) vs je viens de manger (just did).
| Formule | Exemple | Traduction |
|---|---|---|
| commencer à + inf | Il commence à pleuvoir. | It’s starting to rain. |
| finir par + inf | Elle a fini par accepter. | She ended up accepting. |
📚 Free French lessons at learnfrench.co
I just ate → je ___ manger. (passé récent)
viens de
She’s (busy) cooking → elle est ___ cuisiner. (right now)
en train de
They’re going to win → ils ___ gagner. (futur proche)
vont
I had just left → je ___ partir. (past version)
venais de
Translate into French: « I just finished my homework. » (translation)
Je viens de finir mes devoirs.
Translate into French: « Shh! He’s sleeping. » (translation)
Chut ! Il est en train de dormir.
Translate into French: « We’re going to be late! » (translation)
On va être en retard !
Go further: get the full picture in our guide The French past tenses, finally clear.
Placing an action on the timeline — no new tense needed. Follow the rules and patterns in the lesson above, and practise with real sentences like « Je viens de manger » (I just ate).
Yes — « Je viens de manger » means « I just ate », and « Je suis en train de travailler » means « I’m (busy) working ». The lesson above has many more examples with explanations.
This topic is introduced around B1 and refined at higher levels — pick your level from the links at the top of the page. You can also drill it with the interactive exercises and games below.
Games built from this exact page — turn what you just read into play:
5 quick questions on « Venir de, Être en train de, Aller + infinitif » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →