Conjugate Tenir

Like English, there are plenty of verbs in French that don't follow a regular pattern. Tenir, which means "to hold," is one of these verbs. While most French verbs ending in -ir follow the same pattern, there are about 30 that don't. Tenir is an exception to the exception, in a special group alone with the verb venir (to come). To conjugate tenir, all you have to do is drop -enir and replace those letters with the appropriate ending.

Steps

Conjugating in Present Tense

1. Add -iens to say "I hold" or "you hold." For present tense, the verb form for first person and second person is the same. Only the pronoun you use will be different. "I hold" is "je tiens" and "you hold" is "tu tiens."
   • Keep in mind that the tu form is considered informal, and should only be used when talking to children or people you know well. If you're talking to an older person or an authority figure, it's better to use "vous."
2. Use the -ient ending to say "he/she holds." Conjugate tenir as "il tient" if you want to say "he holds," or "elle tient" for "she holds." Remember that in French objects also have a gender, so use the appropriate pronoun.
   • For example, if you wanted to say "that box holds my papers," you might say "cette boîte tient mes papiers" or "elle tient mes papiers," since the word boîte is feminine.
   • You also could say "cette boîte contient mes papiers." Contient is the conjugation for the compound verb contenir, which means the same as the English verb contain. It is conjugated the same as the verb tenir.
3. Add -enons to say "we hold." For the first person plural conjugation, you would use "nous tenons" to mean "we hold." Note that you don't include an i here, as you did with first, second, and third person singular.
4. Say "you all hold" by adding -enez. If you are addressing several people, or you're talking to an authority figure and want to use the more formal version of you, conjugate tenir as "vous tenez."
5. Use the -iennent ending for "they hold." The i returns for the third person plural form of tenir in present tense. To say "they hold" you would either say "ils tiennent" or "elles tiennent" depending on the gender of the group.
   • Use ils if you are talking about a mixed-gender group. This also applies if you are referring to several objects that have both masculine and feminine nouns.

Conjugating in Past Tense

1. Use the -ins ending to say "I held" or "you held." The basic past tense in French is called passé simple and is probably the first past tense conjugation you'll learn. Just as in present tense, the verb form is the same for first and second person.
   • "I held" would be "je tins" and "you held" would be "tu tins." Remember that French has two pronouns for you – tu is considered both singular and informal.
2. Say "he/she held" by adding -int. If you want to talk or write about another person or thing holding something in the past, you would use "il tint" to mean "he held" and "elle tint" to mean "she held." Don't forget about the gender of nouns!
3. Add -înmes to say "we held." For first person plural, you conjugate tenir as "tînmes." So for example, if you wanted to say "we held hands" you would say "nous tînmes les mains."
4. Use the -întes ending to say "you all held." The pronoun vous is used in French if you are talking to a group of people, or as a more polite or formal version of the pronoun tu. The conjugation for tenir in past tense is "vous tîntes" for "you all held."
5. Say "they held" by adding -inrent. When you are talking about some group of people or things, say "ils tinrent" or "elles tinrent" to mean "they held," depending on the gender of the people or things in the group. Use ils if you are referring to a mixed-gender group.

Conjugating in Future Tense

1. Add -iendrai to say "I will hold." Unlike English, the basic future tense in French doesn't have a helper verb – you just conjugate the verb with a different ending. If you want to say "I will hold" in French, you would say "je tiendrai."
2. Use the -iendras ending to say "you will hold." When speaking to a younger person or a friend, if you want to say "you will hold" in French, you would say "tu tiendras." Remember to use the vous form in circumstances where you need to be more polite or formal in addressing someone.
   • In future tense you use a different ending for the second person "tu" than for the first person "je" verb form. This is unlike in past and present tenses, where these two endings were the same.
3. Say "he/she will hold" by adding -iendra. If you are talking about a third person or an object and want to say "he or she will hold" in French, you would say either "il tiendra" or "elle tiendra" depending on the gender of the person or thing.
4. Add -iendrons to say "we will hold." The first person plural conjugation of tenir is tiendrons. Say "nous tiendrons" if you want to say "we will hold." Note that unlike in present tense, in future tense this form still includes the i.
5. Use the -iendrez ending to say "you all will hold." The French pronoun vous is used when you're talking to several people at once, or to a single person who you want to address more politely or respectfully. To conjugate tenir in future tense, say "vous tiendrez."
6. Say "they will hold" by adding -iendront. When you're talking about a group of people or objects, say "ils tiendront" for a masculine or mixed-gender group, and "elles tiendront" for a feminine group.

Tips

• Once you know how to conjugate tenir, you can also conjugate compound verbs formed by adding a prefix to that verb. These compound verbs include appartenir (to belong) and soutenir (to support).
• While tenir primarily means "to hold or to keep," it is also used in other ways. It can mean to keep something in check or under control, to manage or run something, to organize something, or to occupy something.
• Say "Tiens!" when in English you would say "Oh!" It's a similar exclamation. Think about how in English you might say either "Oh!" or "Hold on!" if you forgot something you wanted to tell someone.
• For compound forms, use tenu and conjugate the helper verb.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Conjugate Avoir
• Learn French Fast
• Conjugate French Verbs into Passé Composé
• Say I Miss You in French
• Speak Basic French
• Learn French for Beginners
• Learn French
• Speak French
• Tell Time in French
• Say “You’re Welcome” in French

Read more ...