ellos vienen
/eʝos bjenen/from spelling rules
The English phrase "they are coming" is translated into Spanish as ellos vienen.
The phrase is used to state that a group of people is currently traveling toward the speaker's location. It can also be translated as "they come" to describe a habitual action.
Which one should you use?
While ellos vienen is a standard way to express that people are arriving, you might also see están viniendo, which is a literal translation of the continuous aspect "they are coming". However, ellos vienen is more commonly used in many Spanish-speaking contexts to express this idea.
How does it change in a sentence?
The subject pronoun ellos can be omitted because the verb conjugation vienen already indicates that the subject is "they". If the group of people being referred to consists entirely of females, use ellas vienen instead of ellos vienen.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the verb venir is used only when the movement is toward the speaker. If you say ellos vienen while you are at the destination, you are correct, but if you are at a third location, you must use van, even if they are coming toward a specific place.
- Spanish has a specific gender rule where ellos acts as the default. Even if a group contains ninety-nine women and only one man, you must use ellos vienen instead of ellas vienen.
- The word ellos is a descendant of the Latin illos, which is a demonstrative pronoun used to point out specific people, much like the English 'those' or 'them'.
Examples in context
- Ellos vienen a la fiesta esta noche.They are coming to the party tonight.
- Mis amigas vienen temprano.My female friends are coming early.
- Van llegandoThey are starting to arrive.
- Mira, ellos vienen por la calle.Look, they are coming down the street.
- No te preocupes, ellos vienen pronto.Don't worry, they are coming soon.
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are waiting for friends at a restaurant.
- Lucía¿Sabes dónde están nuestros amigos?Do you know where our friends are?
- JavierSí, ellos vienen en camino.Yes, they are coming on their way.
- LucíaQué bien, ya tengo hambre.That's great, I'm already hungry.
- JavierYo también, Javier tiene hambre.Me too, Javier is hungry.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ellos, CC BY-SA 4.0.
