Take the fastest path to fluent French
In Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), the verb tenir (to hold) and its derivatives* have an irregular past participle: tenu.
Note that tenir uses the auxiliary avoir, unlike venir (see Conjugate coming and going verbs (+ être) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé))
Conjugation of TENIR (to hold) in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French
j' |
ai tenu |
tu |
as tenu |
il / elle / on |
a tenu |
nous |
avons tenu |
vous |
avez tenu |
ils/elles |
ont tenu |
Here's the pattern to conjugate tenir in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) :
avoir in Le Présent + tenu
Note that with avoir as an auxiliary, past participles never agree with the subject of the verb:
*These derivatives follow the same pattern as tenir:
retenir (to retain/hold back) -> retenu
soutenir (to support) -> soutenu
appartenir (to belong) -> appartenu
contenir (to contain) -> contenu
détenir (to detain) -> détenu
entretenir (to maintain/keep) -> entretenu
obtenir (to obtain/get) -> obtenu
soutenir (to support) -> soutenu
appartenir (to belong) -> appartenu
contenir (to contain) -> contenu
détenir (to detain) -> détenu
entretenir (to maintain/keep) -> entretenu
obtenir (to obtain/get) -> obtenu
Listen to these sentences:
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »