Tenir is the verb to hold — and the conjugational twin of venir. Every stem, every ending, every irregularity is identical: je tiens, nous tenons, je tiendrai, que je tienne, je tins. The one critical difference: tenir takes avoir as its auxiliary, while venir takes être. This is one of the cleanest and most useful asymmetries in French to memorize.
Beyond the literal sense of physical holding, tenir is the engine of the idiom tenir à — a construction that covers caring deeply about something, being attached to it, insisting on it, holding on to it. Tenir also heads a large family of compound verbs (appartenir, contenir, maintenir, obtenir, retenir, soutenir, abstenir) that all share its conjugation and, with one exception, its auxiliary.
This page is the verb-reference entry: every paradigm, every compound tense, the major uses with examples, and the family.
The simple tenses
Identical patterns to venir. We give the full paradigms here for reference.
Présent de l'indicatif
The same 3e-groupe stem alternation as venir: tien- (singular and stem-stressed), ten- (nous/vous), tienn- (3pl with double-n).
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | tiens | /tjɛ̃/ |
| tu | tiens | /tjɛ̃/ |
| il / elle / on | tient | /tjɛ̃/ |
| nous | tenons | /tənɔ̃/ |
| vous | tenez | /təne/ |
| ils / elles | tiennent | /tjɛn/ |
The 3pl tiennent /tjɛn/ has a denasalized vowel because the doubled -nn- surfaces as a consonant — same rule as viennent.
Tu tiens vraiment à ce projet, on le voit.
You really care about this project, it shows.
Elle tient son fils par la main pour traverser.
She holds her son by the hand to cross the street.
Ils tiennent une petite épicerie au coin de la rue.
They run a little grocery on the corner.
The form tiens ! (often written tiens, tiens !) is also a fixed exclamation expressing surprise or "well, well..." — completely detached from the literal verb meaning.
Imparfait
Built on the ten- stem (from nous tenons) plus the regular imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tenais |
| tu | tenais |
| il / elle / on | tenait |
| nous | tenions |
| vous | teniez |
| ils / elles | tenaient |
Il tenait absolument à m'accompagner à la gare.
He absolutely insisted on coming with me to the station.
Passé simple (literary)
The same unusual -in- pattern as venir. Note the circumflex on tînmes and tîntes.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tins |
| tu | tins |
| il / elle / on | tint |
| nous | tînmes |
| vous | tîntes |
| ils / elles | tinrent |
Le roi tint sa promesse jusqu'à la fin.
The king kept his promise until the end. (literary)
Futur simple
The stem is tiendr- — irregular, with the same inserted -d- as viendr-. Endings are the regular futur endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tiendrai |
| tu | tiendras |
| il / elle / on | tiendra |
| nous | tiendrons |
| vous | tiendrez |
| ils / elles | tiendront |
Je te tiendrai au courant dès que j'aurai des nouvelles.
I'll keep you posted as soon as I have news.
Conditionnel présent
Same tiendr- stem as the futur, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tiendrais |
| tu | tiendrais |
| il / elle / on | tiendrait |
| nous | tiendrions |
| vous | tiendriez |
| ils / elles | tiendraient |
Je tiendrais bien encore une heure si on avait du café.
I'd hold out for another hour if we had coffee.
Subjonctif présent
The double-n stem tienn- in the singular and 3pl; the regular ten- in the nous / vous forms — same split as the indicative.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | tienne |
| (que) tu | tiennes |
| (qu')il / elle / on | tienne |
| (que) nous | tenions |
| (que) vous | teniez |
| (qu')ils / elles | tiennent |
Il faut qu'on tienne bon jusqu'à la fin du mois.
We have to hold on until the end of the month.
Je veux qu'il tienne sa promesse, c'est tout.
I want him to keep his promise, that's all.
Impératif
Three forms, drawn from the indicative.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | tiens |
| (nous) | tenons |
| (vous) | tenez |
Tiens, voilà la clé que tu cherchais.
Here, here's the key you were looking for.
Tenez bon, on arrive dans cinq minutes.
Hang in there, we'll be there in five minutes.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: tenu (agrees with a preceding direct object in compound tenses with avoir: les promesses qu'il a tenues)
- Participe présent: tenant
- Gérondif: en tenant
En tenant compte du décalage horaire, on devrait arriver à midi.
Taking the time difference into account, we should arrive at noon.
The compound tenses
Tenir uses avoir as its auxiliary — this is the critical difference from venir. Standard avoir + tenu.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + tenu
J'ai tenu le bébé pendant qu'elle s'est reposée.
I held the baby while she got some rest.
Il a tenu sa promesse, contre toute attente.
He kept his promise, against all expectation.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + tenu
J'avais tenu à le voir une dernière fois avant son départ.
I had insisted on seeing him one last time before he left.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + tenu
Quand tu auras tenu une semaine sans café, on en reparlera.
When you've held out a week without coffee, we'll talk about it again.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + tenu
J'aurais tenu plus longtemps si on m'avait soutenu.
I would have held out longer if I'd been supported.
Subjonctif passé
avoir (subjonctif) + tenu
Bien qu'il ait tenu trois ans dans ce poste, il est usé.
Although he lasted three years in that position, he's worn out.
The core uses
1. Holding: physical grip
The literal sense — to hold or grip something physically.
Tiens-moi la main, on traverse.
Hold my hand, we're crossing.
Il tient un livre dans une main et son téléphone dans l'autre.
He's holding a book in one hand and his phone in the other.
2. Tenir à + noun or infinitive — to care about / insist on
This is the most semantically important use of tenir. Tenir à expresses a deep attachment, a strong wish, an insistence. The English equivalents range across several different verbs depending on context: to care about, to be attached to, to insist on, to hold dear, to be set on.
Je tiens beaucoup à ma grand-mère.
I'm very close to my grandmother.
Elle tient à ce livre, c'est un cadeau de son père.
She's attached to that book — it was a gift from her father.
Je tiens à venir avec toi, ne discute pas.
I insist on coming with you, don't argue.
When followed by que + a clause with a different subject, tenir à triggers the subjunctive — same logic as vouloir que.
Je tiens à ce que tu sois là pour mon anniversaire.
I really want you to be there for my birthday.
3. Operating / running something
Tenir a shop, a restaurant, a hotel — to run it, to be in charge of it.
Mes parents tiennent un café dans le centre depuis vingt ans.
My parents have been running a café downtown for twenty years.
Qui tiendra la caisse ce week-end ?
Who'll be on the till this weekend?
4. Holding up / lasting / withstanding
Tenir used intransitively can mean to hold up, last, or withstand pressure.
Cette étagère ne tiendra pas avec autant de livres.
This shelf won't hold up with that many books.
Le record tient depuis 1988, personne n'a fait mieux.
The record has stood since 1988 — nobody's done better.
5. Resembling: tenir de
Tenir de quelqu'un = to take after someone, resemble them in character or appearance.
Il tient de sa mère, c'est évident.
He takes after his mother, it's obvious.
Cette détermination, elle la tient de son grand-père.
That determination — she gets it from her grandfather.
High-frequency idioms
Tenir bon — to hang in there / hold on
Tiens bon, plus que deux jours avant les vacances.
Hang in there, only two days till vacation.
Tenir au courant — to keep informed
Je te tiendrai au courant dès que je sais quelque chose.
I'll keep you posted as soon as I know anything.
Tenir compte de — to take into account
Il faut tenir compte de la météo avant de partir.
You have to take the weather into account before leaving.
Tenir parole / tenir sa promesse — to keep one's word / one's promise
Un homme qui tient parole, ça devient rare.
A man who keeps his word — that's becoming rare.
Tiens ! / Tiens, tiens ! — well, well... / here you go
Tiens, tiens, regarde qui voilà !
Well, well — look who's here!
Tiens, prends ça, tu en auras besoin.
Here, take this — you'll need it.
The tenir family — compound verbs
Like venir, tenir heads a large family of compound verbs, all conjugated identically. The auxiliary is avoir for almost all of them — the one exception is the reflexive s'abstenir, which (as a reflexive) takes être.
| Verb | Meaning | Auxiliary |
|---|---|---|
| appartenir (à) | to belong (to) | avoir |
| contenir | to contain | avoir |
| détenir | to hold / detain | avoir |
| entretenir | to maintain / chat with | avoir |
| maintenir | to maintain / uphold | avoir |
| obtenir | to obtain / get | avoir |
| retenir | to retain / hold back / book | avoir |
| soutenir | to support / sustain | avoir |
| s'abstenir (de) | to abstain (from) | être (reflexive) |
Ce livre appartient à ma sœur.
This book belongs to my sister.
J'ai obtenu mon diplôme l'année dernière.
I got my degree last year.
On a retenu une table pour samedi soir.
We booked a table for Saturday night.
Tu peux soutenir mon dossier auprès de la direction ?
Can you back my application with management?
Cette boîte contient tous mes vieux journaux intimes.
This box contains all my old diaries.
Je me suis abstenue de commenter, c'était plus prudent.
I held off commenting, it was wiser.
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
- Tenir à has no single English equivalent. It covers attachment, insistence, caring deeply, holding dear — and English speakers reach for different verbs depending on the nuance. Train yourself to use tenir à directly rather than translating from English.
- Auxiliary asymmetry with venir. Venir takes être, tenir takes avoir. The conjugations are otherwise identical. This split is a top-five trap for intermediate learners.
- The compound family is huge and useful. Obtenir, maintenir, retenir, soutenir, contenir, appartenir are all extremely high-frequency verbs and all share tenir's exact conjugation. Learning tenir well means learning ten verbs at once — invest in the paradigm.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using être as the auxiliary because tenir looks like venir.
❌ Je suis tenu ma promesse.
Wrong — *tenir* takes *avoir*: *j'ai tenu*. Don't let the *venir*-look-alike fool you.
✅ J'ai tenu ma promesse.
I kept my promise.
Mistake 2: Forgetting the preposition à with tenir à.
❌ Je tiens mon indépendance.
Wrong — *tenir à* requires the preposition *à*: *je tiens à mon indépendance*.
✅ Je tiens à mon indépendance.
I cherish my independence.
Mistake 3: Failing to trigger the subjunctive after tenir à ce que.
❌ Je tiens à ce que tu viens.
Wrong — *tenir à ce que* triggers the subjunctive: *viennes*, not *viens*.
✅ Je tiens à ce que tu viennes.
I really want you to come.
Mistake 4: Over-translating tenir to to hold in idioms.
❌ J'ai tenu une boutique pendant vingt ans.
Grammatical, but native French speakers will hear it as 'I held a shop' — for 'run a shop' the imparfait or présent is more natural: *je tenais / je tiens une boutique*.
✅ Je tiens une boutique depuis vingt ans.
I've been running a shop for twenty years.
Mistake 5: Forgetting the circumflex on tînmes / tîntes in the passé simple.
❌ Nous tinmes notre promesse.
Wrong — the passé simple of *tenir* (and *venir*) requires the circumflex: *tînmes, tîntes*.
✅ Nous tînmes notre promesse.
We kept our promise. (literary)
Key takeaways
Tenir is the verb to hold — and the conjugational twin of venir. Same stems, same endings, same irregularities. The one critical difference: tenir takes avoir as its auxiliary. Lock in j'ai tenu (not je suis tenu) immediately.
The paradigm has three stems: tien- / tienn- (singular present, 3pl, subjunctive singular and 3pl), ten- (nous/vous, imparfait, gerund), tiendr- (futur and conditional). The passé simple stem tin- with circumflex on tînmes / tîntes is unusual and worth memorizing.
The most semantically important construction is tenir à — to care about, to be attached to, to insist on, to hold dear. It covers a wider semantic range than any single English verb. With que + a clause, it triggers the subjunctive: je tiens à ce que tu viennes.
The compound family is large and high-frequency: obtenir, maintenir, retenir, soutenir, contenir, appartenir, entretenir, détenir. All take avoir. The only family member taking être is the reflexive s'abstenir. Learn tenir well and you have ten verbs in one paradigm.
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