The French verb tenir means "to hold". Below are its 7 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of tenir is je tiens, tu tiens, il/elle tient, nous tenons, vous tenez, ils/elles tiennent. It is irregular: all 6 present forms break the regular -ir pattern. The tables below cover 7 tenses, from the present to the imperative. Its present participle is tenant and its past participle is tenu. Its compound tenses are formed with avoir.
Forms in orange break the regular -ir pattern.
| je | tiens (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | tiens (irregular) | |
| il/ | tient (irregular) | |
| nous | tenons (irregular) | |
| vous | tenez (irregular) | |
| ils/ | tiennent (irregular) |
| j' | ai tenu (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | as tenu (irregular) |
| il/ | a tenu (irregular) |
| nous | avons tenu (irregular) |
| vous | avez tenu (irregular) |
| ils/ | ont tenu (irregular) |
| je | tenais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | tenais (irregular) |
| il/ | tenait (irregular) |
| nous | tenions (irregular) |
| vous | teniez (irregular) |
| ils/ | tenaient (irregular) |
| je | tiendrai (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | tiendras (irregular) |
| il/ | tiendra (irregular) |
| nous | tiendrons (irregular) |
| vous | tiendrez (irregular) |
| ils/ | tiendront (irregular) |
| je | tiendrais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | tiendrais (irregular) |
| il/ | tiendrait (irregular) |
| nous | tiendrions (irregular) |
| vous | tiendriez (irregular) |
| ils/ | tiendraient (irregular) |
| que je | tienne (irregular) |
|---|---|
| que tu | tiennes (irregular) |
| qu'il/ | tienne (irregular) |
| que nous | tenions (irregular) |
| que vous | teniez (irregular) |
| qu'ils/ | tiennent (irregular) |
| tu | tiens (irregular) |
|---|---|
| nous | tenons (irregular) |
| vous | tenez (irregular) |
Tenir is irregular. Its present forms include tiens, tient, and tenons, while its future uses tiendr- in tiendrai. Its present participle is tenant and its past participle is tenu.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in French with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No, tenir is irregular. Its forms include tiens, tenons, tiendrai, and tenu.
The future stem is tiendr-. The forms are tiendrai, tiendras, tiendra, tiendrons, tiendrez, and tiendront.
The present participle is tenant and the past participle is tenu. The auxiliary is avoir, as shown by ai tenu.