The Italian verb tenere means "to hold, keep". 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 tenere is io tengo, tu tieni, lui/lei tiene, noi teniamo, voi tenete, loro tengono. It is irregular: 4 of its 6 present forms break the regular -ere pattern. Its gerund is tenendo and its past participle is tenuto. Its compound tenses are formed with avere. Every present form and 4 example sentences have a listen button.
Forms in orange break the regular -ere pattern.
| io | tengo (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | tieni (irregular) | |
| lui/ | tiene (irregular) | |
| noi | teniamo | |
| voi | tenete | |
| loro | tengono (irregular) |
| io | ho tenuto |
|---|---|
| tu | hai tenuto |
| lui/ | ha tenuto |
| noi | abbiamo tenuto |
| voi | avete tenuto |
| loro | hanno tenuto |
| io | tenevo |
|---|---|
| tu | tenevi |
| lui/ | teneva |
| noi | tenevamo |
| voi | tenevate |
| loro | tenevano |
| io | terrò (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | terrai (irregular) |
| lui/ | terrà (irregular) |
| noi | terremo (irregular) |
| voi | terrete (irregular) |
| loro | terranno (irregular) |
| io | terrei (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | terresti (irregular) |
| lui/ | terrebbe (irregular) |
| noi | terremmo (irregular) |
| voi | terreste (irregular) |
| loro | terrebbero (irregular) |
| che io | tenga (irregular) |
|---|---|
| che tu | tenga (irregular) |
| che lui/ | tenga (irregular) |
| che noi | teniamo |
| che voi | teniate |
| che loro | tengano (irregular) |
| tu | tieni (irregular) |
|---|---|
| Lei | tenga (irregular) |
| noi | teniamo |
| voi | tenete |
| loro | tengano (irregular) |
Tenere is irregular. The present has forms such as tengo, tieni, and tengono, while the future and conditional use terrò and terrei. The past participle is tenuto.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Italian with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No, tenere is irregular. Its table has forms such as tengo, tieni, and terrò.
The future forms are terrò, terrai, terrà, terremo, terrete, and terranno.
The gerund is tenendo and the past participle is tenuto. The auxiliary is avere.