retenir in French: to retain, to hold back, to remember (verb)

Translation

to retain, to hold back, to remember

Word origin

From Latin retinere ('to hold back, keep'), from re- ('back') and tenere ('to hold').

Verb type-ir irregular (tenir family)

Irregular verb. A full conjugation table for irregular verbs is coming soon. For now, use a reference like Wordreference or RAE.

' .

I cannot remember his surname.

Retiens .

Remember well what I am going to tell you.

larmes .

He had to hold back his tears in front of the children.

employés.

The boss wants to keep the best employees.

retenu .

We have reserved a table for tonight.

tenir

to hold, to keep

garder

to keep, to look after

apprendre

to learn; to teach

souvenir

to remember (reflexive: se souvenir); also a noun meaning 'memory, souvenir'

empêcher

to prevent; to stop

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