Verbs Retourner, Revenir, Rentrer How to Translate to Return in French ?
As the summer vacation is about to end, some of you will probably have travelled. If you speak about your holidays in French, it’s a good opportunity to use motion verbs correctly in French. The verb in English to return unfortunately cannot be systmematically translated with the verb retourner in French.
The French language have several verbs to express to return, to go back, to come back. The choice of the verb to translate to return in French depends on the context.
-Retourner : to go back somewhere, mostly for a limited time
1: To go back (to a place which you, as the speaker have visited in the past).
The verb Retourner can’t be used to refer to your home or your country but mainly for a place where you have been but which is not necessarily familiar to you.
I often hear English speakers use retourner just because it sounds like to return in English. But most of the time, unfortunately, it is not used correctly. Let’s see how to use retourner properly.
« J’ai adoré le Japon et j’ai envie d’y retourner » (Japan is not a place where you live )
« I loved Japan and I would like to go back there »
2: To go back (to a place where the speaker is not and where he went for a short time ). The verb Retourner is used for example if the speaker has forgotten something somewhere.
« J’ai oublié mon portefeuille au restaurant et je dois y retourner tout de suite »
« I left my wallet at the restaurant and I need to go back there now »
-Revenir : to come back (HERE, where the speaker is)
“ Je reviens dans 10 jours “
The verb revenir is used to refer to return to a place where the speaker is currently. In this context it is mainly used in the present tense but the past or the future tense are also possible.
It can be used to refer to the place where you live or where you ( or the speaker) are at the moment when the person speaks
1 « Attend-moi ici, je reviens dans cinq minutes»
« Wait for me, I will be back in five minutes »
2 « Après un voyage de deux mois en Asie, je suis revenue le week-end dernier »
« After a trip of two months in Japan, I came back last week-end »
Another example, someone could call you and ask: « Tu reviens quand? « When will you be back ? »
- Rentrer : to return home, to come back home
To return home is used whether “home” is your country or your abode.
1 « Cette fête est géniale mais je suis fatiguée. Je rentre à la maison »
« This party is great but I’m tired. I’m returning / coming back home »
2 « On part une dizaine de jours et on devrait rentrer avant la fin du mois »
«We are going for about ten days et we think we should be back by the end of the month»
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