Breakdown of Je tiens à te remercier moi-même.
même
same; even
remercier
to thank
tenir à
to be keen on, to insist on
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Questions & Answers about Je tiens à te remercier moi-même.
Why does tiens à mean "insist on" here instead of "hold"?
The verb tenir on its own means "to hold". However, when used with the preposition à, its meaning shifts. tenir à followed by a noun means "to care about" (for example, Je tiens à toi). When followed by an infinitive like remercier, it means "to be anxious to", "to really want to", or "to insist on" doing it.
What would happen if I used the preposition de instead of à with the verb tenir?
Why is the pronoun te placed before remercier instead of before tiens?
Object pronouns go immediately before the verb they actually belong to. Here, you are thanking someone, so te is the direct object of remercier (to thank), not of tiens. Therefore, it is placed right in front of the infinitive.
Is moi-même the object being thanked in this sentence?