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Conjugation of the Italian verb tenere

A list of the common conjugations for the Italian verb tenere, along with their English translations.

tenere is an irregular verb

Infinitive		Scored
tenere	to keep

Present		Scored
io tengo	I keep
tu tieni	you keep
lui tiene	he keeps
lei tiene	she keeps
noi teniamo	we keep
voi tenete	you keep
loro tengono	they keep

Imperfect		Scored
io tenevo	I was keeping
tu tenevi	you were keeping
lui teneva	he was keeping
lei teneva	she was keeping
noi tenevamo	we were keeping
voi tenevate	you were keeping
loro tenevano	they were keeping

Past Historic / Passato remoto This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passato Prossimo is used to refer to past actions.		Scored
io tenni	I kept
tu tenesti	you kept
lui tenne	he kept
lei tenne	she kept
noi tenemmo	we kept
voi teneste	you kept
loro tennero	they kept

Past / Passato prossimo		Scored
io ho tenuto	I kept
tu hai tenuto	you kept
lui ha tenuto	he kept
lei ha tenuto	she kept
noi abbiamo tenuto	we kept
voi avete tenuto	you kept
loro hanno tenuto	they kept

Pluperfect / Trapassato prossimo		Scored
io avevo tenuto	I had kept
tu avevi tenuto	you had kept
lui aveva tenuto	he had kept
lei aveva tenuto	she had kept
noi avevamo tenuto	we had kept
voi avevate tenuto	you had kept
loro avevano tenuto	they had kept

Future		Scored
io terrò	I will keep
tu terrai	you will keep
lui terrà	he will keep
lei terrà	she will keep
noi terremo	we will keep
voi terrete	you will keep
loro terranno	they will keep

Future Perfect / Futuro anteriore The Italian Future Perfect or Futuro anteriore is made with the future tense of avere for transitive verbs or essere for reflexive and intransitive verbs and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take essere, or with the direct object for verbs that take avere.		Scored
io avrò tenuto	I will have kept
tu avrai tenuto	you will have kept
lui avrà tenuto	he will have kept
lei avrà tenuto	she will have kept
noi avremo tenuto	we will have kept
voi avrete tenuto	you will have kept
loro avranno tenuto	they will have kept

Conditional		Scored
io terrei	I would keep
tu terresti	you would keep
lui terrebbe	he would keep
lei terrebbe	she would keep
noi terremmo	we would keep
voi terreste	you would keep
loro terrebbero	they would keep

Conditional Perfect / Condizionale Passato The Italian Conditional Perfect or Condizionale Passato is made with the conditional tense of avere for transitive verbs or essere for reflexive and intransitive verbs and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take essere, or with the direct object for verbs that take avere.		Scored
io avrei tenuto	I would have kept
tu avresti tenuto	you would have kept
lui avrebbe tenuto	he would have kept
lei avrebbe tenuto	she would have kept
noi avremmo tenuto	we would have kept
voi avreste tenuto	you would have kept
loro avrebbero tenuto	they would have kept

Present Subjunctive		Scored
(... che) io tenga	(... that) I keep
(... che) tu tenga	(... that) you keep
(... che) lui tenga	(... that) he keeps
(... che) lei tenga	(... that) she keeps
(... che) noi teniamo	(... that) we keep
(... che) voi teniate	(... that) you keep
(... che) loro tengano	(... that) they keep

Imperfect Subjunctive		Scored
(... che) io tenessi	(... that) I was keeping
(... che) tu tenessi	(... that) you were keeping
(... che) lui tenesse	(... that) he was keeping
(... che) lei tenesse	(... that) she was keeping
(... che) noi tenessimo	(... that) we were keeping
(... che) voi teneste	(... that) you were keeping
(... che) loro tenessero	(... that) they were keeping

Imperative		Scored
tieni	Keep
teniamo	Let's keep
tenete	Keep

Present Participle		Scored
tenente	keeping

Past Participle		Scored
tenuto	kept

Regular conjugation

Irregular conjugation

Spelling change

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