French grammar · Intermediate
Tenir in French: Conjugation, Tenir À, Tenir De, and the Whole Family
Tenir means to hold, and everything else it does grows out of that: holding a promise (tenir parole), holding on to an opinion (tenir à), and holding a resemblance from a parent (tenir de). Its conjugation copies venir exactly, with the diphthong stem tien- in the singular and ten- in the plural.
Tiens-moi la porte, j'ai les mains prises.
Hold the door for me, my hands are full.
What it is
Tenir is the physical act of gripping something, and French extends that grip metaphorically further than English does. You hold a promise, you hold to an opinion, a shop is held by its owner, and a child holds something of its father. Reading tenir as grip rather than hold makes the extensions predictable.
Il tient son fils par la main et il tient à ce qu'on parte tôt. — He's holding his son by the hand and he's insistent that we leave early.
How to spot it
Two stems, split by stress. When the ending is silent you get tien-; when the ending is pronounced you get ten-.
- Je tiens le sac. — I'm holding the bag.
- Nous tenons bon. — We're holding out.
- Ils tiennent la réunion demain. — They're holding the meeting tomorrow.
- Elle tiendra sa promesse. — She'll keep her promise.
The future stem inserts a d that appears nowhere in the present: tiendr-, exactly as venir gives viendr-.
Tenir Quick Reference
Tenir with and without a preposition
| Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tenir + object | to hold | tiens ça une seconde — hold this a second |
| tenir à + noun | to value, be attached to | je tiens à ma liberté — I value my freedom |
| tenir à + infinitive | to be keen to | elle tient à venir — she's keen to come |
| tenir à ce que + subjunctive | to insist that | je tiens à ce qu'il sache — I insist he know |
| tenir de + person | to take after | il tient de sa mère — he takes after his mother |
| se tenir | to stand, to behave | tiens-toi droit — stand up straight |
| tenir + place | to run, to keep | elle tient un café — she runs a café |
| tenir dans / sur | to fit | ça ne tient pas dans le coffre — it won't fit in the boot |
Common Tenir Examples in French
Tenir from the literal grip outwards:
Holding Physically
- Tiens ma veste une minute.
- Hold my jacket a minute.
- Elle tenait son bébé dans ses bras.
- She was holding her baby in her arms.
- Le clou ne tient plus.
- The nail isn't holding any more.
- Tenez la rampe en descendant.
- Hold the handrail on the way down.
With no object, tenir means to hold in place or stay attached: la peinture tient bien.
Keeping and Running Things
- Il a tenu sa promesse.
- He kept his promise.
- Ses parents tiennent une librairie.
- His parents run a bookshop.
- Elle tient un journal depuis l'adolescence.
- She's kept a diary since her teens.
- Nous tiendrons la réunion en ligne.
- We'll hold the meeting online.
Tenir parole and tenir sa promesse are both correct; the first is fixed and takes no article.
Caring and Insisting
- Je tiens beaucoup à cette photo.
- This photo means a lot to me.
- Il tient à payer.
- He insists on paying.
- Elle tient à ce que tout soit prêt.
- She insists that everything be ready.
- Si tu y tiens, on peut y aller.
- If you're set on it, we can go.
Tenir à ce que forces the subjunctive, which is why soit and not est appears in the third example.
Fitting and Lasting
- Tout tient dans une valise.
- It all fits in one suitcase.
- On tient à six autour de cette table.
- Six of us fit around this table.
- Ce vin ne tiendra pas dix ans.
- This wine won't last ten years.
- Ça ne tient pas debout.
- That doesn't stand up, that makes no sense.
The fitting sense is intransitive and very common: ça tient, ça ne tient pas.
How Tenir Works
A two-stem present, a d in the future, and a preposition that entirely rewrites the meaning.
Tien- Under Stress, Ten- Elsewhere
The singular forms and the third-person plural carry the stress on the stem, and there the vowel diphthongises: tiens, tiens, tient, tiennent. Nous and vous move the stress onto the ending and the stem flattens back to ten-.
Je tiens, nous tenons, ils tiennent.
I hold, we hold, they hold.
Stressed stem → tien-.
The Future Inserts a D
Tenir builds its future and conditional on tiendr-, a stem that exists nowhere else in the conjugation. The d is not a typo and it is pronounced.
Je te tiendrai au courant.
I'll keep you posted.
tiendr- for future and conditional.
À Means Attachment, De Means Origin
Tenir à points at something you would not give up. Tenir de points back at where a trait came from. The verb is the same and the two readings never overlap.
Elle tient de son père, mais elle tient à son indépendance.
She takes after her father, but she values her independence.
à = value it, de = inherit it.
Tenir À Ce Que Takes the Subjunctive
When what you insist on is a whole clause rather than a noun, à becomes à ce que and the verb that follows goes into the subjunctive, because the clause reports a wish rather than a fact.
Je tiens à ce que tu viennes.
I really want you to come.
tenir à ce que + subjunctive.
The Prefixed Family Conjugates Identically
Obtenir, contenir, maintenir, retenir, soutenir, appartenir and entretenir all follow tenir form for form, including the tiendr- future and the participle in -tenu.
Ce livre appartient à ma sœur et contient toutes ses notes.
This book belongs to my sister and contains all her notes.
-tenir → -tiens, -tiendrai, -tenu.
Common Mistakes with Tenir
Incorrect: Nous tiennons la porte. — We're holding the door.
Correct: Nous tenons la porte. — We're holding the door.
The diphthong stem tien- only appears where the ending is silent. Nous and vous take the flat stem ten-, so the double n has nowhere to go.
Incorrect: Je tiens à ce que tu viens. — I really want you to come.
Correct: Je tiens à ce que tu viennes. — I really want you to come.
Tenir à ce que expresses a wish, not a fact, so the clause after it takes the subjunctive. Viens is the indicative; viennes is the form required here.
Incorrect: Il tient à son père. — He takes after his father.
Correct: Il tient de son père. — He takes after his father.
Both sentences are grammatical but they mean different things. With à it says he is attached to his father; only de expresses resemblance.
Incorrect: Je tiendrais ma promesse demain. — I'll keep my promise tomorrow.
Correct: Je tiendrai ma promesse demain. — I'll keep my promise tomorrow.
Tiendrais is the conditional, I would keep. For a plain statement about tomorrow you need the future tiendrai, with no s.
Tenir Conjugated
If you already know venir, you know tenir: every ending and every stem alternation is the same, with t replacing v.
Simple tenses
The imperfect and the subjunctive nous and vous forms both use ten-, while the rest of the subjunctive uses tienn-.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur | subjonctif |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | tiens | tenais | tiendrai | tienne |
| tu | tiens | tenais | tiendras | tiennes |
| il / elle / on | tient | tenait | tiendra | tienne |
| nous | tenons | tenions | tiendrons | tenions |
| vous | tenez | teniez | tiendrez | teniez |
| ils / elles | tiennent | tenaient | tiendront | tiennent |
Que nous tenions is spelled exactly like the imperfect nous tenions, as it is for every French verb.
Compound tenses and the conditional
Tenir takes avoir, unlike venir, which takes être. That is the one place where the two verbs part company.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait | conditionnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | ai tenu | avais tenu | tiendrais |
| tu | as tenu | avais tenu | tiendrais |
| il / elle / on | a tenu | avait tenu | tiendrait |
| nous | avons tenu | avions tenu | tiendrions |
| vous | avez tenu | aviez tenu | tiendriez |
| ils / elles | ont tenu | avaient tenu | tiendraient |
Je suis tenu de faire quelque chose is a different structure altogether: it means I am obliged to.
Imperative and literary past
Tiens on its own has drifted away from the verb and become an interjection. The passé simple uses the rare nasal pattern shared only with venir.
| Pronoun | impératif | passé simple |
|---|---|---|
| je | — | tins |
| tu | tiens | tins |
| il / elle / on | — | tint |
| nous | tenons | tînmes |
| vous | tenez | tîntes |
| ils / elles | — | tinrent |
Tiens ! and tenez ! are used to hand something over, and also to express surprise: tiens, tu es là ?
Tenir À, Tenir De, and Se Tenir
One preposition changes this verb more than any conjugation does, and the pronominal form adds a further set of meanings.
Tenir à — attachment and insistence
With a noun, tenir à means to value or be attached to something. With an infinitive it means to be keen to do it. With a clause, à becomes à ce que and drags the subjunctive in behind it.
- Je tiens à cette bague.
- This ring matters to me.
- Il tient à s'excuser lui-même.
- He insists on apologising himself.
- Nous tenons à ce que vous soyez là.
- We really want you to be there.
- J'y tiens beaucoup.
- I care about it a lot.
The pronoun for à plus a thing is y: j'y tiens. For a person it is the stressed form: je tiens à elle.
Tenir de — resemblance and origin
Tenir de quelqu'un means to have inherited a trait from them. It is used with people, and occasionally with abstract sources.
- Elle tient de sa grand-mère.
- She takes after her grandmother.
- Il tient ça de son père.
- He gets that from his father.
- Cette histoire tient du miracle.
- This story borders on the miraculous.
Tenir de quelque chose, with a thing, means to partake of it or verge on it: ça tient de la folie.
Se tenir — posture, behaviour, and events
The pronominal form covers how you hold your own body, how you behave, and, with an event as subject, where something takes place.
- Tiens-toi droit.
- Stand up straight.
- Ils se sont mal tenus à table.
- They behaved badly at the table.
- La conférence se tiendra à Lyon.
- The conference will be held in Lyon.
- Tenez-vous prêts.
- Be ready.
Se tenir au courant means to keep yourself informed, and tenir quelqu'un au courant means to keep someone else informed.
Tenir FAQs
- How do you conjugate tenir?
- Je tiens, tu tiens, il tient, nous tenons, vous tenez, ils tiennent. The future is je tiendrai and the past participle is tenu, giving j'ai tenu. It follows venir exactly, except that tenir takes avoir in compound tenses.
- What does tenir à mean?
- To value something or be set on doing it: je tiens à cette photo, il tient à payer. With a whole clause it becomes tenir à ce que and requires the subjunctive: je tiens à ce que tu sois là.
- What's the difference between tenir de and tenir à?
- Tenir de quelqu'un means to take after them, to have inherited a trait: elle tient de sa mère. Tenir à quelqu'un means to be emotionally attached to them. The preposition alone carries the difference.
- Why does tenir have a d in the future?
- Its future stem is tiendr-, an inherited form that survives from Latin alongside viendr- for venir. There is no rule to derive it from, so it has to be memorised, but it covers every future and conditional form.
- What does tiens mean on its own?
- It has two conversational jobs. Handing something over, it means here you go: tiens, c'est pour toi. Reacting to something unexpected, it means well, look at that: tiens, tu es déjà rentré ?