arrive

arrive — verb

1. to finish travelling and be at the place you were heading toward, whether by pla

1.verbintransitiveA2
Definition

to finish travelling and be at the place you were heading toward, whether by plane, train, car, bicycle, or on foot.

Example

Mateo's flight from Tokyo arrived at Heathrow forty minutes late.

arrive at + airport/station

The Watanabe family arrived in Taipei early on Sunday morning.

arrive in + city/country

Common collocations
  • arrive safely
  • arrive on time
  • arrive late
  • arrive early
  • arrive home
Synonyms
  • reach

    transitive, takes a direct object: 'reach the summit'

  • get to

    informal everyday alternative: 'we got to Rome late'

  • land

    specifically for planes touching the ground

Antonyms
  • depart

    formal; the opposite action of leaving a place

  • leave

    everyday opposite, used for both people and transport

Grammar Patterns

arrive at + small place

arrive in + city/country

arrive + time expression

Usage Note

Use 'at' for buildings, stations, airports, and small places; use 'in' for cities, regions, and countries. Never use 'to' after 'arrive' — that is the most frequent learner mistake.

Common Mistakes

We arrived to Paris yesterday.
We arrived in Paris yesterday.
'arrive' is never followed by 'to'.
I arrived to the airport at 6 a.m.
I arrived at the airport at 6 a.m.
small or specific places take 'at'.
She arrived at home very tired.
She arrived home very tired.
drop the preposition before 'home'.

2. when a moment, season, event, or new thing arrives, it begins or comes into exis

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

when a moment, season, event, or new thing arrives, it begins or comes into existence — often something that people have been expecting or waiting for.

Example

Spring arrived early this year, and the cherry trees bloomed in March.

subject is a season

The day of Sofia's piano exam finally arrived after months of practice.

the day/moment + arrived

Common collocations
  • spring arrived
  • the moment arrived
  • the day arrived
  • arrive on the scene
  • arrive on the market
Synonyms
  • come

    more general and slightly less formal

  • begin

    focuses on the start of a period, not its appearance

  • appear

    stresses becoming visible or available, often for products

Antonyms
  • pass

    describes a moment or season ending rather than starting

  • end

    general opposite for events

Grammar Patterns

[event/season/time] + arrives

the day/moment arrives

Usage Note

Subject is typically an abstract event, time period, or trend — not a person. Distinguish from sense 1 by checking whether the subject can physically travel; if not, this is sense 2.

Common Mistakes

Christmas was arrived last week.
Christmas arrived last week.
'arrive' is intransitive and not used in the passive here.

3. a gentle informal way of saying that a baby has been born into a family.

3.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

a gentle informal way of saying that a baby has been born into a family.

Example

Ravi and his husband were overjoyed when their twin daughters arrived in May.

subject is the baby/babies

Baby Noah arrived two weeks earlier than the doctors had predicted.

named baby + arrived + time expression

Common collocations
  • the baby arrived
  • twins arrived
  • arrived early
  • arrived safely
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

the baby + arrived

[name of baby] + arrived

Usage Note

Common in informal news of family events such as birth announcements and cards. Distinguish from sense 1 (REACH PLACE) by the subject — here it is the newborn, not a traveller.

Common Mistakes

She arrived a baby last month.
Her baby arrived last month.
'arrive' is intransitive; the baby is the subject, not the object.
Phrasal verbs

arrive at

phrasal verb

to reach a decision, conclusion, or solution after thinking carefully or discussing with others.

The committee arrived at a decision after three long hours of debate.

Detective Rivera finally arrived at the truth by reviewing every witness statement.

Idioms

somebody has arrived

idiom

used to say that a person has finally become successful or famous in their field, after long effort.

After her novel won the national prize, critics agreed that Hannah had truly arrived.

Once your face appears on a magazine cover, friends say you have arrived.

Word family

  • arrival
    nounB1
  • arriving
    adjectiveB2
  • arriviste
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe completing a journey, but they differ in grammar and tone. 'Arrive' is intransitive and needs 'at' or 'in' before the place — never 'to'. 'Reach' is transitive and slightly more effortful, suggesting that getting there took work, as in 'they reached the mountain hut at sunset'. 'Get to' is the most informal and common in everyday speech: 'what time did you get to the party?'. 'Land' is narrower — it describes planes or, figuratively, a person ending up somewhere unexpected. Use 'arrive' for neutral travel news ('the train arrived on time'), 'reach' when the destination was difficult ('we finally reached the camp'), 'get to' for casual conversation, and 'land' for flights or surprising endings.

arrive ↗reach ↗get toland ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • arrive at the airport
  • arrive at a station
  • arrive at a hotel
  • arrive in town
  • arrive at a decision
  • arrive at a conclusion

Adverbs

Phrases

  • arrive home
  • arrive on the scene
  • arrive on the market
  • arrive in style
  • the moment has arrived

Prepositions

  • at (a building, station, airport)
  • in (a city, country, region)
  • from (a place of origin)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

'Arrive' came into English in the 1200s from Old French 'ariver', which originally meant 'to come to shore' — a sailor's word built on Latin 'ad ripam', literally 'to the bank' (of a river or sea). For its first centuries the word kept its watery flavour, used mostly of ships reaching land. Over time the meaning broadened to any traveller reaching any destination, and by the 1800s English speakers also used it for events and moments coming into view.