How do you conjugate "retenir" in the Present Simple tense in French?

Present Simple conjugation of retenir: je retiens, tu retiens, il/elle retient, nous retenons, vous retenez, ils/elles retiennent. Example: "Je retiens mes larmes en public." — "I hold back my tears in public."

How do you conjugate "retenir" in the Present Perfect tense in French?

Present Perfect conjugation of retenir: je ai retenu, tu as retenu, il/elle a retenu, nous avons retenu, vous avez retenu, ils/elles ont retenu. Example: "J'ai retenu mon rire pendant la réunion." — "I held back my laughter during the meeting."

How do you conjugate "retenir" in the Imperfect tense in French?

Imperfect conjugation of retenir: je retenais, tu retenais, il/elle retenait, nous retenions, vous reteniez, ils/elles retenaient. Example: "Je retenais mes émotions." — "I was holding back my emotions."

retenir (to hold back) — French Conjugation, All Tenses & Examples

retenir (to hold back) — French Verbs Conjugation Tables

Learn to conjugate retenir (to hold back) across all tenses in French. Each tense includes real example sentences in French and English, used in Rhythmica's music-based learning system.

retenir — Present Simple in French

retenir Present Simple conjugation
Pronoun	Conjugation	Example in French	English
je	retiens	Je retiens mes larmes en public.	I hold back my tears in public.
tu	retiens	Tu retiens bien ta colère.	You hold back your anger well.
il/elle	retient	Il retient le chien avec une laisse.	He/she holds back the dog with a leash.
nous	retenons	Nous retenons notre rire pendant la réunion.	We hold back our laughter during the meeting.
vous	retenez	Vous retenez des informations importantes.	You all hold back important information.
ils/elles	retiennent	Ils retiennent la foule à l'entrée.	They hold back the crowd at the entrance.

retenir — Present Perfect in French

retenir Present Perfect conjugation
Pronoun	Conjugation	Example in French	English
je	ai retenu	J'ai retenu mon rire pendant la réunion.	I held back my laughter during the meeting.
tu	as retenu	Tu as retenu le chien pour qu'il ne s'enfuie pas.	You held back the dog from running away.
il/elle	a retenu	Il/Elle a retenu les mauvaises nouvelles jusqu'à plus tard.	He/She held back the bad news until later.
nous	avons retenu	Nous avons retenu nos opinions hier.	We held back our opinions yesterday.
vous	avez retenu	Vous avez retenu l'eau avec des sacs de sable.	You all held back the water with sandbags.
ils/elles	ont retenu	Ils/Elles ont retenu leur excitation toute la matinée.	They held back their excitement all morning.

retenir — Imperfect in French

retenir Imperfect conjugation
Pronoun	Conjugation	Example in French	English
je	retenais	Je retenais mes émotions.	I was holding back my emotions.
tu	retenais	Tu me retenais la vérité.	You were holding back the truth from me.
il/elle	retenait	Elle retenait ses cheveux avec une pince.	She was holding back her hair with a clip.
nous	retenions	Nous retenions l'eau avec des sacs de sable.	We were holding back the water with sandbags.
vous	reteniez	Vous reteniez vos commentaires.	You all were holding back your comments.
ils/elles	retenaient	Elles retenaient les manifestants.	They were holding back the protesters.

retenir — to hold back — French Verbs

retenir (to hold back) — French Verbs Conjugation Tables

retenir — Present Simple in French

retenir — Present Perfect in French

retenir — Imperfect in French