Ir vs venir in Spanish: go, come, and direction

Use ir for movement away from the current reference point: “go.” Use venir for movement toward the speaker, listener or place the conversation is focused on: “come.” English sometimes says “come” where Spanish prefers ir, so ask where the person is moving in the Spanish scene, not which English verb you would use.

Ir means go to another place

Use ir when someone moves from the current place toward a different destination.

Voy a la tienda.
I am going to the store.

Mañana vamos a Madrid.
Tomorrow we are going to Madrid.

The destination can be a person:

Voy a tu casa a las ocho.
I am going to your house at eight.

English might say “I’ll come to your house”, but Spanish commonly views the movement from the speaker’s current place and uses ir.

Venir means come toward the reference point

Use venir when the movement is toward the speaker or toward the place the conversation treats as “here”.

Ven aquí, por favor.
Come here, please.

¿Vienes a mi fiesta?
Are you coming to my party?

Venir de also means “to come from”:

Vengo de Chile.
I come from Chile.

With someone can use either idea

With another person, Spanish often chooses the verb by the speaker’s viewpoint.

¿Vienes conmigo?
Are you coming with me?

Voy contigo.
I am going with you.

The first invites the other person toward your plan. The second describes your own movement with that person.

Common mistakes

Translating English “come to your house” too literally

When the speaker is not at the destination, Spanish often uses ir.

Vengo a tu casa esta noche. → Voy a tu casa esta noche.
I’m coming / going to your house tonight.

Using ir for “come here”

Movement toward the speaker uses venir.

Ve aquí. → Ven aquí.
Come here.

Mixing command forms

The short commands are easy to confuse: ve means “go”, and ven means “come”.

Ve a casa. / Ven a casa.
Go home. / Come home.

For objects, the same direction logic appears in llevar vs traer. Fluera keeps the place and speaker visible in each prompt, then asks for the motion verb, so you can practice Spanish from the scene instead of translating “go” or “come” one word at a time.

Practice