Revenir à is a common French verb phrase with several core meanings. It can mean to come back to a place, to return to a topic, to go back to a previous state, or to amount to a sum. The exact meaning depends on context. The basic idea is movement back toward something, real or abstract.

The verb is revenir. It is irregular and conjugated with être in compound tenses.

• Je suis revenu à la maison. I came back home.
• Nous sommes revenus à la même idée. We came back to the same idea.

Physical return to a place

The most basic meaning is “to return to” a place.

Examples:

• Je reviens à Paris demain. I am coming back to Paris tomorrow.
• Il est revenu à son bureau. He came back to his office.
• Nous revenons à la maison. We are coming back home.
• Ils sont revenus à leur village. They came back to their village.

Close alternatives:

• Retourner à to go back to
• Rentrer à to go back home or inside

Examples:

• Je retourne à Paris. I am going back to Paris.
• Nous rentrons à la maison. We are going home.

Revenir à often stresses the idea of coming back again, sometimes after time away.

Returning to a topic or idea

Revenir à is often used in speech or writing when someone “goes back” to a subject.

Examples:

• Revenons à notre sujet. Let us return to our topic.
• Je reviens à ce que tu as dit. I am coming back to what you said.
• Il revient toujours à la même question. He always comes back to the same question.
• Revenez à votre point principal. Come back to your main point.

Common set phrase:

• Revenons à nos moutons. Let us get back to the point.

Close alternatives:

• Parler de nouveau de to speak again about
• Se concentrer sur to focus on
• Reprendre to take up again

Example:

• Reprenons ce point. Let us take up this point again.

Going back to a previous state

Revenir à can mean “to go back to” an earlier condition or situation.

Examples:

• Il est revenu à la normale. It went back to normal.
• On revient à zéro. We are going back to zero.
• Je reviens à mon ancienne méthode. I am going back to my old method.
• Ils sont revenus à la réalité. They came back to reality.

Close alternatives:

• Redevenir to become again
• Retourner à to return to

Example:

• Il est redevenu calme. He became calm again.

Amounting to a sum

In financial or numerical contexts, revenir à can mean “to come to” or “to amount to.”

Examples:

• Ça revient à cent euros. It comes to one hundred euros.
• Le total revient à mille dollars. The total comes to one thousand dollars.
• Si on partage, ça revient à dix euros par personne. If we share, it comes to ten euros per person.

In this use, ça revient à is very common in spoken French.

Close alternatives:

• Faire to make, in sums
• S’élever à to amount to

Example:

• Le total s’élève à mille euros. The total amounts to one thousand euros.

Meaning in the sense of equivalence

Revenir à can also mean “to amount to” in the sense of being the same as something else.

Examples:

• Refuser revient à accepter l’échec. Refusing amounts to accepting failure.
• Ne rien dire revient à mentir. Saying nothing amounts to lying.
• Changer le nom ne revient à rien. Changing the name amounts to nothing.

Close alternatives:

• Être équivalent à to be equivalent to
• C’est comme it is like

Example:

• Ne pas voter, c’est comme accepter le résultat. Not voting is like accepting the result.

Pronominal form se revenir à

The form se revenir à is rare in modern French and mostly found in older texts. In contemporary French, the simple form revenir à is used.

Grammar notes

• It is followed by à plus a noun, pronoun, or infinitive.
• With pronouns, à becomes y.

Examples:

• Je reviens à cette idée. I am coming back to this idea.
• J’y reviens. I am coming back to it.
• Nous y revenons plus tard. We will come back to it later.

Past tense with être:

• Je suis revenu à ce point. I came back to this point.
• Ils sont revenus à leur plan initial. They came back to their original plan.

Agreement follows normal rules with être in compound tenses.

Summary

• Revenir à means to come back to a place, topic, state, or idea.
• It can also mean to amount to a sum.
• In a broader sense, it can mean to be equal to or to amount to in effect.
• It is conjugated with être in compound tenses.
• With objects introduced by à, it often becomes y revenir.