Tenir – to hold, to keep

French Verb Conjugations

  PresentImperfectFutureConditionalSubjunctiveImperfect subj.
je tiens tenais tiendrai tiendrais tienne tinsse
tu tiens tenais tiendras tiendrais tiennes tinsses
il tient tenait tiendra tiendrait tienne tînt
nous tenons tenions tiendrons tiendrions tenions tinssions
vous tenez teniez tiendrez tiendriez teniez tinssiez
ils tiennent tenaient tiendront tiendraient tiennent tinssent
             
  Passé composé Past perfect Future perfect Past conditional Past subjunctive Pluperfect subj.
j’ ai tenu avais tenu aurai tenu aurais tenu aie tenu eusse tenu
tu as tenu avais tenu auras tenu aurais tenu aies tenu eusses tenu
il a tenu avait tenu aura tenu aurait tenu ait tenu eût tenu
nous avons tenu avions tenu aurons tenu aurions tenu ayons tenu eussions tenu
vous avez tenu aviez tenu aurez tenu auriez tenu ayez tenu eussiez tenu
ils ont tenu avaient tenu auront tenu auraient tenu aient tenu eussent tenu
             
  Passé simplePast anterior Imperative Participles  
je tins eus tenu   (tu) tiens   Present tenant
tu tins eus tenu   (nous) tenons   Past tenu
il tint eut tenu   (vous) tenez   Perfect ayant tenu
nous tînmes eûmes tenu   Past imperative    
vous tîntes eûtes tenu   (tu) aie tenu Past infinitive
ils tinrent eurent tenu   (nous) ayons tenu   avoir tenu
        (vous) ayez tenu    

  Tenir is an irregular -ir verb.

 Listening

Tenir in action

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2 Responses

  1. Kevin 30 June 2016 / 13:53

    Thanks for the conjugations. Can you give any advice on learning what this word means? It seems to have many, many meanings, and I can’t figure out which ones are most central or most common.

    • lkl 5 July 2016 / 9:37

      Thanks for asking, I’ve just added lessons for using tenir and expressions with tenir. It is kind of a tricky one, but just imagine learning English and having to memorize all the meanings for “get”!