Do 'venir' and 'to come' mean the same?
Hello!
I've noticed that in the thread "the word of the day; venir" of yesterday, several people seem to be slightly confused about the verbs "venir" and "llegar". I've just received a PM from a member 
who also noticed that and asks me: What is the reason for this confusion? 
I really don't know, but his point reminded me that I got corrected several times when trying to choose between to arrive, to go and to come.
So I looked it up, and I think that the difference between these directional verbs is quite clear in Spanish, but it's confusing for me in English.
Venir: dicho de una persona o de una cosa: Llegar a donde está quien habla.
Come: to move or travel towards the speaker or with the speaker
Up until this point, all seems to be okay.
but....
Llegar: Alcanzar el fin o término de un desplazamiento
Arrive : to reach a place, especially at the end of a journey
Come: to get to a particular place 
I had never realised that to arrive and to come had such similar meanings in English! My question is, are they really synonyms? Can you give some examples of how these are used in English?
Thanks in advance! All comments ( and corrections) are really appreciated.
15 Answers
(Not interchangeable)
Aw, come off it!
You know, I'm just going to come right out and say it. We shouldn't let such a slight discrepancy between these two words come between our willingness or ability to understand the language. I'm certainly not trying to come off as preachy or to come down on you in any way, but I'm sure you've probably come across bigger challenges in life. Right? Your studies have been coming along so well up till now. Why let such a tiny problem come in the way of linguistic success?
So, come on! I'm sure that if we study the problem from various angles, we will eventually be able to come upon some example that might clarify things for us. In the meantime, try not to fret over all those grumbling hypocrites, standing on the sideline, too timid to come forward and offer any help of their own yet invested enough to be willing to come down on you for having the audacity to try to come up with a novel solution of your own. If you persevere, I know that you'll come through! Besides, I'm sure that eventually they'll come to see the error of their ways—especially if you are able to come to a reasonable conclusion regarding this little linguistic hiccup. Like I said, don't worry about all the naysayers. They'll come around eventually, and if not then I am sure that they will get what's coming to them.
Besides, once you get started with your investigations, I'm quite positive that you will find enough people willing to come out in support of your endeavors to quiet all the early humbugging that might be coming your way. Come to think of it, I have come across at least a dozen or so people myself who have come forward and said that they would be willing to come over to our side on the matter. And just think, all this support is coming before you have really even gotten started with your investigation. I'm sure that once you really get going with it, they'll be coming out of the woodworks in support of your work. After all, we all know that you are as good as they come.
I know that you might still be a bit skeptical, thinking to yourself, "Yeah, right. What does this clown know about anything." But the truth is that I can see the future. You see, three days ago, before I even knew that this little issue was troubling you, it came to me in a dream that you would come upon great success in this very same linguistic quest that you have just today come to us for help with.
In any case, I've got to go now, but I'll come back later and see how you are coming along with your work. Or if you like, you can also come by my office and we can discuss your progress (or if it would make you more comfortable, you could come to the house). By the way, I know that this little diatribe is a bit long, but I really had only intended on writing a couple of words of encouragement. Honestly, I don't know what came over me.
By the way, and not to add any undue pressure, but if you don't follow through with this inquiry, you will never really ever be able to say that you have truly arrived.
I had never realised that to arrive and to come had so similar meanings in English! My question is, are they really synonyms? Can you give some examples of how these are used in English?
Yes. Sometimes they are synonymous in that they can both be used to describe a destination, the culmination of a journey or a temporal or spacial endpoint as having been reached.
? The time has come/arrived for the final battle to commence.
? Help has finally arrived/come.
?They were late in arriving/coming
?They came/arrived by boat.
One interesting point to note is that when followed by a preposition or prepositional phrase that specifies the destination/endpoint, it is probably more common to see "come" paired with "to" and "arrive" paired with "at."
? How did you come to that decision?/How did you arrive at that decision?
? We arrived at the party at noon./We came to the party at noon.
This varied use of prepositions might be useful in shedding some light on the difference in usage that is often seen between the two words. The verb "arrive" is usually followed by the preposition "at" precisely because it is a verb concerned simply with the destination or endpoint; however, with the verb "come" the emphasis can vary in that it is also often used with stress placed on the idea that the journey was made "from" a place abstractly considered as there "to" a place considered as here. Because of this additional nuance of movement that the verb can imply, in certain contexts the two verbs are not interchangeable. Said another way, "arrive" can only be used to focus on the destination or the "here;" whereas, "come" can also focus on the journey or process of movement from there to here:
? Come here, right now! / Arrive here, right now!
? The dog came into the room / The dog arrived into the room.
? The wolf came at us with its teeth bared / The wolf arrived at us with its teeth bared.
? That car is coming toward us / That car is arriving toward us.
? How is your book coming? / How is your book arriving?
? Eggs come from chickens / Eggs arrive from chickens
Aside from this more subtle difference, there are also a couple of other distinct meanings and at least a couple dozen idiomatic or colloquial expressions using the word "come" which would in no way be interchangeable with the word "arrive." Going into each and every one of these would make this already somewhat lengthy post a bit unmanageable, so I think it best that I simply come to an end right now.
I see and use the verb arrive as being much more specific than the verb to come
eg: ''They arrived to work at 8 'o clock in the morning''. I would say that arrived usually indicates a more specific action'.that is with a definite result
They came to work at 8 'o clock in the morning sounds more vague
Also to arrive talks more about the destination whereas to come speaks more about the process of travelling from one place to another
I would say: They came to work by bus = They travelled to work by bus (used to carry the same meaning)
When someone issues an invitation they usually say:
Would you like to come to my party on..(day)........ at (time) ? (Not go to or arrive at my party 
Would you go to the shops and buy me some milk please?
....compared with: The mother said to her daughter: Would you like to come with me to visit granny ?
I hope that helps 
Thanks for the excellent answers, they helped a lot.
Taking Izazoni's post as example, I see some typical sentences in it that bring about mistakes.
? The time has come/arrived for the final battle to commence.
Ha llegado el momento de la batalla final / Ha venido el momento de la batalla final
? Help has finally arrived/come.
Por fin ha llegado la ayuda/ Por fin ha venido la ayuda
? How did you come to that decision?/How did you arrive at that decision?
¿Cómo llegaste a esa decisión?/ ¿Cómo viniste a esa decisión?
These are also tricky, because they are correct but their meaning changes ( and some of them sound a bit strange)
? We arrived at the party at noon./We came to the party at noon.
Llegamos a la fiesta al mediodía/ Vinimos a la fiesta al mediodía??? (only if you are still in the party)
?They came/arrived by boat.
Llegaron en barco/ Vinieron en barco??? ( only if they arrived at the same place where you are)
?They were late in arriving/coming
Llegaron tarde/ Vinieron tarde ??? (you are talking in the same place where they were late)
Yours is an excellent, yet very complex question, Cogumela. I cannot give you a technical answer since I am no expert. What I can share with you is a classic example that throws Spanish speakers off.
Are you coming over? ¿Vas a venir?
Yes, I'll come over at 2:00 pm... Sí, voy (iré) a las 2:00 pm.
Here, come means venir and ir. The rule is that you use come in this example because you're invited.
Let's see what other participants can "come up" with (pardon the pun).
Thanks for opening this thread Cogu. I know that the info given by our friends here w/ regards to the difference between " to come" & "to arrive" will be of great help to you. I just hope that more native Spanish speakers will chime in to give their perspectives when dealing with venir & llegar so that we Spanish learners will be enlightened as well, since this is not an easy topic at all, given that they are so similar yet most of the time not interchangeable 
Cogu, I thought that I would do some research using my Collins Concise English Dictionary to find out what the dictionary says about the original intended literal meanings in English:
To Come (Sp: Venir )= To move towards a place considered near to the speaker or hearer;
eg Come and see me as soon as you can
Arrive: (Sp; llegar) To reach a place or destination
My example/s: She will arrive at Barcelona Airport tomorrow
To go (Sp: Ir) To move or proceed to or from a place: go forward
eg My cousin is going (travelling) to visit his friend in Mexico next week
I am going to the theatre tonight to see Romeo and Juliet
Cogu:I hope that these dictionary definitions and the examples given will help you understand the English usage more clearly so you can compare them to your native understanding of your own verbs for these actions I have given the equivalent verbs in Spanish, in brackets but I am not meaning to suggest by doing this, that the definitions for use are the same in Spanish.
I hope this helps
(On the cell phone) "I'm coming. I'm halfway there. I should arrive in 20 minutes."
(Outside playing) "Come inside for dinner." "Coming, Mom."
(In the house) "Is your father coming downstairs to dinner?" "No, he said he can't come now. He has a business call and he will come later."
Hi Cogumela,
I could come (sorry for the pun as well) up with many sentences and examples, but thought I would check the dictionary here first. I think if you read through this you will see just how many ways we use this word.
I was just thinking the same thing about cómo y como last night. I am familiar with both words and the ways they are used, but I still have to stop and think about them at times. But now I have more hope after reading your thread. If I as an English speaker can navigate the many uses of the word "come" than one day I can use "cómo/como without thinking.
I've always thought that when we use the word "come", it always refers to the speaker's location.
"Arrive" does not necessarily refer to the speaker's location.
Air Jamaica never comes on time! Air Jamaica never arrives on time!
Did the gown arrive form the cleaners yet? Did the gown come from the cleaners yet?
This was definitely a trouble area for me in Spanish for awhile because in English we do sometimes use them interchangeably. For example:
We arrived at the party at 7:00 p.m. or We came to the party at 7:00 p.m.
I've never thought about it but, now that I think about it, they are
What time did she arrive at the reception? What time did she come to the reception?
When "come" is used in the present tense, it conveys a meaning of motion, of the processing of moving towards the "arrival".
"Arrive" is the end of the process, the destination being reached.
When "come" is used in the past tense, "came", it is much closer in meaning to "arrived" because the process of motion is completed.
I came to the party a 7:00 pm last night, I arrived at 7:00 pm, are almost exactly the same.
But I can talk on the phone and explain that I'm coming, and that could mean that I am in the car, on the road, or it could mean I will start to travel soon. Until it's completed, I cannot say "I'm arriving".
Oh, so to summarize all the juicy/great posts above...
venir = to come
llegar = to arrive
