arriver

to arrive

verb ah-ree-VEH Common

Also means

to happen

Usage Note

Arriver means to arrive, but the impersonal il arrive que and ça arrive mean 'it happens' — ça peut arriver à tout le monde is 'it can happen to anyone'. It also means to manage to do something, as in j'arrive à le faire, and the polite cry j'arrive ! means 'I'm coming!'.

Examples

"Le train arrive à huit heures."

Natural Translation

The train arrives at eight.

Literal Translation

The train arrives at eight hours

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