Arriver or atteindre: the patterns for arriving and reaching

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 2 October 2026 · About the library

Arriver à la gare, atteindre la gare, arriver à ouvrir: compare the patterns for places, targets and managing a task, then try four questions.

In short

Arriver describes arrival: arriver à la gare. Atteindre means reaching a place, level or goal and takes a direct object: atteindre la gare, atteindre un objectif. With an infinitive, arriver à means managing to do something: J’arrive à ouvrir la porte.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Arriver / atteindre — three useful patterns

1 · Arrive at a place

Choose the place phrase that suits the destination: à la, au, en or chez.

arriver à Paris	arrive in Paris
arriver en Italie	arrive in Italy

Nous arrivons à la gare à dix heures.We arrive at the station at ten.

Elle arrive chez Nora ce soir.She’s arriving at Nora’s this evening.

2 · Reach a place or target

Put the destination or target straight after atteindre.

atteindre le sommet	reach the summit
atteindre un niveau	reach a level

Ils atteignent le refuge avant la nuit.They reach the refuge before nightfall.

Nous avons atteint notre objectif.We have reached our goal.

3 · Manage to do something

Use arriver à plus an infinitive. In the negative, this says you cannot manage the action.

arriver à comprendre

manage to understand

Tu arrives à lire ce panneau ?Can you manage to read that signé

Je n’arrive pas à ouvrir ce fichier.I can’t manage to open this file.

One journey allows both descriptions: Nous arrivons au village and Nous atteignons le village. The first presents arrival; the second presents the destination reached. Keep the construction with its verb: au village with arriver, le village with atteindre.

Points on the journey

Two past-tense constructions

Verb	Example	What to notice
arriver	Elle est arrivée à la gare.	Use être; arrivée agrees with elle.
atteindre	Elle a atteint la gare.	Use avoir; la gare follows the verb directly.

Le train arrive dans cinq minutes. — D’accord, j’arrive !

The train arrives in five minutes. — All right, I’m coming!

A destination can stay understood in J’arrive ! Another common expression, Ça arrive, means “It happens”. The words around the verb tell you whether the sentence concerns a traveller, a task or an event.

1 · Arrive at a place

2 · Reach a place or target

3 · Manage to do something

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