The French verb tenir translates literally to “to hold” but has a very wide array of usages. Today’s lesson provides ten audio example sentences showing these usages.
Tenir
to hold
Present tense conjungation
Tenir (to hold) is an irregular IR verb and has the same conjugation pattern as venir (to come).
Je tiens I hold
Tu tiens you hold (singular, informal)
Il, elle tient he, she holds
Nous tenons we dold
Vous tenez you hold (plural, formal)
Ils, elles tiennent they hold
Example sentences
Je tiens un bouquet de fleurs dans les mains.
I’m holding a bouquet of flowers in my hands.
Il tient ses promesses.
He keeps his promises.
Nous tenons un restaurant à Paris.
We own a restaurant in Paris.
Le professeur ne sait pas tenir sa classe.
The teacher doesn’t know how to control his class.
Le café me tient éveillé jusqu’à minuit.
Coffee keeps me awake until midnight.
Nous tenons compte de vos opinions.
We take your opinions into account.
Elle tient de ses deux parents.
She takes after both of her parents.
Nous tenons à notre maison.
We are attached to our house.
Tiens! C’est Jacques!
Hey! It’s Jacques!
La conférence se tient demain.
The conference is taking place tomorrow.
Discover more
- Tips for mastering verb conjugations
- Tenir conjugation tables
- Venir (to come) conjugation tables
- Paris pronunciation
- Café – coffee
- Jusqu’à – until
- Maison – house
- Demain – tomorrow
Word of the Day | Lessons by David Issokson
