maintenir

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French maintenir, from Vulgar Latin, Late Latin manūtenēre (“to support”), from Latin manū (“with the hand”) + teneō (“to hold”). Equivalent to main +‎ tenir. Compare Spanish mantener, Portuguese manter, Italian mantenere.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /mɛ̃t.niʁ/
  • audio(file)

Verb

maintenir

  1. to maintain
  2. to stick to
  3. (reflexive, se maintenir, of the weather) to stay fair
  4. (reflexive, se maintenir) to persist
  5. (reflexive, se maintenir) to keep up

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

Conjugation of maintenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple maintenir
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple maintenant
/mɛ̃t.nɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle maintenu
/mɛ̃t.ny/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present maintiens
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃/		 maintiens
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃/		 maintient
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃/		 maintenons
/mɛ̃t.nɔ̃/		 maintenez
/mɛ̃t.ne/		 maintiennent
/mɛ̃.tjɛn/
imperfect maintenais
/mɛ̃t.nɛ/		 maintenais
/mɛ̃t.nɛ/		 maintenait
/mɛ̃t.nɛ/		 maintenions
/mɛ̃.tə.njɔ̃/		 mainteniez
/mɛ̃.tə.nje/		 maintenaient
/mɛ̃t.nɛ/
past historic2 maintins
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃/		 maintins
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃/		 maintint
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃/		 maintînmes
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃m/		 maintîntes
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃t/		 maintinrent
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃ʁ/
future maintiendrai
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁe/		 maintiendras
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁa/		 maintiendra
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁa/		 maintiendrons
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/		 maintiendrez
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁe/		 maintiendront
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
conditional maintiendrais
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/		 maintiendrais
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/		 maintiendrait
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/		 maintiendrions
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/		 maintiendriez
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁi.je/		 maintiendraient
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound
tenses)		 present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		 present maintienne
/mɛ̃.tjɛn/		 maintiennes
/mɛ̃.tjɛn/		 maintienne
/mɛ̃.tjɛn/		 maintenions
/mɛ̃.tə.njɔ̃/		 mainteniez
/mɛ̃.tə.nje/		 maintiennent
/mɛ̃.tjɛn/
imperfect2 maintinsse
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃s/		 maintinsses
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃s/		 maintînt
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃/		 maintinssions
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃.sjɔ̃/		 maintinssiez
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃.sje/		 maintinssent
/mɛ̃.tɛ̃s/
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — maintiens
/mɛ̃.tjɛ̃/		 — maintenons
/mɛ̃t.nɔ̃/		 maintenez
/mɛ̃t.ne/		 —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Further reading

Old French

Etymology

main +‎ tenir, calque of Latin manus teneō or from Vulgar Latin, Late Latin manūteneō, manūtenēre (“I support”).

Verb

maintenir

  1. to maintain (to keep the same)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem maintien distinct from the unstressed stem mainten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of maintenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive maintenir avoir maintenu
gerund en maintenant gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle maintenant
past participle maintenu
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses		 present maintieng, maintien maintiens maintient maintenons maintenez maintienent
imperfect maintenoie, mainteneie maintenoies, mainteneies maintenoit, mainteneit mainteniiens, mainteniens mainteniiez, mainteniez maintenoient, mainteneient
preterite maintin maintenis maintint maintenimes maintenistes maintindrent, maintinrent
future maintendrai maintendras maintendra maintendrons maintendroiz, maintendreiz, maintendrez maintendront
conditional maintendroie, maintendreie maintendroies, maintendreies maintendroit, maintendreit maintendriiens, maintendriens maintendriiez, maintendriez maintendroient, maintendreient
compound
tenses		 present perfect present tense of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
past anterior preterite tense of avoir + past participle
future perfect future tense of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que jo que tu qu’il que nos que vos qu’il
simple
tenses		 present maintiegne maintiegnes maintiegne maintiegniens, maintiegnons maintiegniez maintiegnent
imperfect maintenisse maintenisses maintenist maintenissons, maintenissiens maintenissoiz, maintenissez, maintenissiez maintenissent
compound
tenses		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— maintien — maintenons maintenez —

Descendants
  • French: maintenir
  • → Middle English: mayntenen
  • → Middle High German: hanthaben (calque)
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