The recent past

What you are expressing: the “recent past” (le passé récent)

Use venir de + infinitive to say something just happened (a moment ago).

• English equivalent: “have/has just + past participle”.
• Typical contexts: on the phone, at a counter, reporting actions in an admin process.

Core formula (word order you must keep)

• Key point: you conjugate venir (in the present), not the main verb.
• The main action stays in the infinitive: remplir, vérifier, recevoir, signer…

The most common mistake (and how to self-correct)

• Correct: Je viens de remplir le formulaire.
• Wrong: Je viens de rempli le formulaire. (You used a past participle instead of an infinitive.)
• Wrong: Je viens remplir de le formulaire. (Word order is broken.)

Self-check: After de, can you put “to …” in English? If yes, you need an infinitive in French.

“de” or “d’”? (pronunciation + spelling shortcut)

de becomes d’ before a vowel sound (to avoid two vowels).

Time meaning: how “recent” is “recent”?

• Immediate past: seconds/minutes ago (most common).
• Still recent: earlier today, very recently in a process (context decides).
• If it’s not “just now”, use a normal past tense (often passé composé).

Negation and questions (very useful in real conversations)

• Negative: Je ne viens pas de signer. (I haven’t just signed.)
• Question (intonation): Vous venez de télécharger le formulaire ?
• Question (est-ce que): Est-ce que vous venez de soumettre le dossier ?

Placement rule: ne … pas goes around the conjugated verb venir.

Quick production checklist (before you speak)

1. What is the action? Choose the infinitive (remplir, envoyer, recevoir, vérifier…).
2. Who did it? Conjugate venir in the present (viens/viens/vient/venons/venez/viennent).
3. Add de (or d’).
4. Add the rest of the sentence (object, place, reason).

Model: Je viens de + infinitive + complement.