retenir — French conjugation
to retain
Indicative
Present (Présent) Irregular
Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.
Elle parle arabe et français.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | retiens | I retain |
| tu | retiens | you retain |
| il/elle | retient | he/she/it retains |
| nous | retenons | we retain |
| vous | retenez | you (pl.) retain |
| ils/elles | retiennent | they retain |
Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular
The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.
Ils virent le roi s'approcher.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | retins | I retained |
| tu | retins | you retained |
| il/elle | retint | he/she/it retained |
| nous | retînmes | we retained |
| vous | retîntes | you (pl.) retained |
| ils/elles | retinrent | they retained |
Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular
The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.
Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | retenais |
| tu | retenais |
| il/elle | retenait |
| nous | retenions |
| vous | reteniez |
| ils/elles | retenaient |
Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular
The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.
Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | retiendrais | I would retain |
| tu | retiendrais | you would retain |
| il/elle | retiendrait | he/she/it would retain |
| nous | retiendrions | we would retain |
| vous | retiendriez | you (pl.) would retain |
| ils/elles | retiendraient | they would retain |
Future (Futur) Irregular
The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.
Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | retiendrai | I will retain |
| tu | retiendras | you will retain |
| il/elle | retiendra | he/she/it will retain |
| nous | retiendrons | we will retain |
| vous | retiendrez | you (pl.) will retain |
| ils/elles | retiendront | they will retain |
Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular
The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.
Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai retenu | I have retained |
| tu | tu as retenu | you have retained |
| il/elle | il/elle a retenu | he/she/it has retained |
| nous | nous avons retenu | we have retained |
| vous | vous avez retenu | you (pl.) have retained |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont retenu | they have retained |
Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular
The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.
Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais retenu | I had retained |
| tu | tu avais retenu | you had retained |
| il/elle | il/elle avait retenu | he/she/it had retained |
| nous | nous avions retenu | we had retained |
| vous | vous aviez retenu | you (pl.) had retained |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient retenu | they had retained |
Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular
The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).
J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais retenu |
| tu | tu aurais retenu |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait retenu |
| nous | nous aurions retenu |
| vous | vous auriez retenu |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient retenu |
Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular
The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.
D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai retenu | I will have retained |
| tu | tu auras retenu | you will have retained |
| il/elle | il/elle aura retenu | he/she/it will have retained |
| nous | nous aurons retenu | we will have retained |
| vous | vous aurez retenu | you (pl.) will have retained |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront retenu | they will have retained |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular
The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…
Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | retienne |
| tu | retiennes |
| il/elle | retienne |
| nous | retenions |
| vous | reteniez |
| ils/elles | retiennent |
Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular
The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.
Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | retinsse |
| tu | retinsses |
| il/elle | retînt |
| nous | retinssions |
| vous | retinssiez |
| ils/elles | retinssent |
Other forms
Imperative (Impératif) Regular
The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.
Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | retiens |
| nous | retenons |
| vous | retenez |