Other variations of Latin, such as Classical, Late, or Vulgar, would have pronounced the phrase differently. In Ecclesiastical Latin, the form typically used by the Roman Catholic Church, it would be pronounced veh-nee, vee-dee, vee-kee or veh-nee, vee-dee, vee-chee. Because English doesn’t fold its subjects into its verbs, the phrase is a little longer in English.īecause there are multiple forms of Latin, the phrase can be pronounced different ways. Therefore, “veni, vidi, vici” translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered,” despite only being three words long.

To break that down a little, “first-person singular” refers to the fact that the subject is “I,” while “perfect indicative active” means that the action the subject performed occurred earlier than the current time. Veni, vidi, vici is a Latin phrase that literally translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered.' Latin doesn’t require individual pronouns, as each word is conjugated from the “to be” form (“Venire, videre, vincere”) to the first-person singular perfect indicative active form.

In this article, we’ll cover what the expression means, its historical context, and why it’s still commonly said today. But where did such a phrase come from? Why are people still saying it today? You’ve probably heard the phrase-or its English counterpart, “I came, I saw, I conquered”-before.

Veni vidi deus vicit