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Conjugation of the French verb tenir

A list of the common conjugations for the French verb tenir, along with their English translations.

tenir is an irregular verb

Verb phrases

Infinitive		Scored
tenir	to hold

Present		Scored
je tiens	I hold
tu tiens	you hold
il tient	he holds
elle tient	she holds
nous tenons	we hold
vous tenez	you hold
ils tiennent	they hold
elles tiennent	they hold

Imperfect		Scored
je tenais	I was holding
tu tenais	you were holding
il tenait	he was holding
elle tenait	she was holding
nous tenions	we were holding
vous teniez	you were holding
ils tenaient	they were holding
elles tenaient	they were holding

Past Historic / Passé Simple This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passé Composé is used to refer to past actions.		Scored
je tins	I held
tu tins	you held
il tint	he held
elle tint	she held
nous tînmes	we held
vous tîntes	you held
ils tinrent	they held
elles tinrent	they held

Passé Composé		Scored
j'ai tenu	I have held
tu as tenu	you have held
il a tenu	he has held
elle a tenu	she has held
nous avons tenu	we have held
vous avez tenu	you have held
ils ont tenu	they have held
elles ont tenu	they have held

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfait		Scored
j'avais tenu	I had held
tu avais tenu	you had held
il avait tenu	he had held
elle avait tenu	she had held
nous avions tenu	we had held
vous aviez tenu	you had held
ils avaient tenu	they had held
elles avaient tenu	they had held

Future		Scored
je tiendrai	I will hold
tu tiendras	you will hold
il tiendra	he will hold
elle tiendra	she will hold
nous tiendrons	we will hold
vous tiendrez	you will hold
ils tiendront	they will hold
elles tiendront	they will hold

Future Perfect / Futur antérieur The French Future Perfect or Futur antérieur is made with the future tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurai tenu	I will have held
tu auras tenu	you will have held
il aura tenu	he will have held
elle aura tenu	she will have held
nous aurons tenu	we will have held
vous aurez tenu	you will have held
ils auront tenu	they will have held
elles auront tenu	they will have held

Conditional		Scored
je tiendrais	I would hold
tu tiendrais	you would hold
il tiendrait	he would hold
elle tiendrait	she would hold
nous tiendrions	we would hold
vous tiendriez	you would hold
ils tiendraient	they would hold
elles tiendraient	they would hold

Conditional Perfect / Conditionnel passé The French Conditional Perfect (the past conditional) or Conditionnel passé is made with the conditional tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurais tenu	I would have held
tu aurais tenu	you would have held
il aurait tenu	he would have held
elle aurait tenu	she would have held
nous aurions tenu	we would have held
vous auriez tenu	you would have held
ils auraient tenu	they would have held
elles auraient tenu	they would have held

Present Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je tienne	(... that) I hold
(... que) tu tiennes	(... that) you hold
(... que) il tienne	(... that) he holds
(... que) elle tienne	(... that) she holds
(... que) nous tenions	(... that) we hold
(... que) vous teniez	(... that) you hold
(... que) ils tiennent	(... that) they hold
(... que) elles tiennent	(... that) they hold

Imperfect Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je tinsse	(... that) I was holding
(... que) tu tinsses	(... that) you were holding
(... que) il tînt	(... that) he was holding
(... que) elle tînt	(... that) she was holding
(... que) nous tinssions	(... that) we were holding
(... que) vous tinssiez	(... that) you were holding
(... que) ils tinssent	(... that) they were holding
(... que) elles tinssent	(... that) they were holding

Imperative		Scored
tiens	Hold
tenons	Let's hold
tenez	Hold

Present Participle		Scored
tenant	holding

Past Participle		Scored
tenu	held

Regular conjugation

Irregular conjugation

Spelling change

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