contenir

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin continēre, present active infinitive of contineō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kun.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kon.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kon.teˈniɾ]
• Rhymes: -i(ɾ)

Verb

contenir (first-person singular present continc, first-person singular preterite continguí, past participle contingut)

1. to contain

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French

Etymology

From Old French contenir, borrowed from Latin continēre, present active infinitive of contineō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃t.niʁ/

• audio:

  (file)

Verb

contenir

1. to contain (To have in)
2. to contain, to hold back (control, e.g. a disease, tears), to keep in check (control something that might hurt you, e.g. emotions)
3. to hold, to take, to seat (To have a capacity of)

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as retenir 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 contenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	contenir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	contenant /kɔ̃t.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		contenu /kɔ̃t.ny/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	contiens /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃/	contiens /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃/	contient /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃/	contenons /kɔ̃t.nɔ̃/	contenez /kɔ̃t.ne/	contiennent /kɔ̃.tjɛn/
	imperfect	contenais /kɔ̃t.nɛ/	contenais /kɔ̃t.nɛ/	contenait /kɔ̃t.nɛ/	contenions /kɔ̃.tə.njɔ̃/	conteniez /kɔ̃.tə.nje/	contenaient /kɔ̃t.nɛ/
	past historic2	contins /kɔ̃.tɛ̃/	contins /kɔ̃.tɛ̃/	contint /kɔ̃.tɛ̃/	contînmes /kɔ̃.tɛ̃m/	contîntes /kɔ̃.tɛ̃t/	continrent /kɔ̃.tɛ̃ʁ/
	future	contiendrai /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	contiendras /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	contiendra /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	contiendrons /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	contiendrez /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	contiendront /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	contiendrais /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	contiendrais /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	contiendrait /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	contiendrions /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	contiendriez /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	contiendraient /kɔ̃.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	contienne /kɔ̃.tjɛn/	contiennes /kɔ̃.tjɛn/	contienne /kɔ̃.tjɛn/	contenions /kɔ̃.tə.njɔ̃/	conteniez /kɔ̃.tə.nje/	contiennent /kɔ̃.tjɛn/
	imperfect2	continsse /kɔ̃.tɛ̃s/	continsses /kɔ̃.tɛ̃s/	contînt /kɔ̃.tɛ̃/	continssions /kɔ̃.tɛ̃.sjɔ̃/	continssiez /kɔ̃.tɛ̃.sje/	continssent /kɔ̃.tɛ̃s/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	contiens /kɔ̃.tjɛ̃/	—	contenons /kɔ̃t.nɔ̃/	contenez /kɔ̃t.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).

Related terms

• contenance
• contenant
• content
• contenu

Further reading

• “contenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Old French

Alternative forms

• cuntenir

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

Borrowed from Latin continēre, present active infinitive of contineō.

Verb

contenir

1. (reflexive, se contenir) to control oneself, to keep one's feelings and behavior in check
2. (reflexive, se contenir) to behave (in a given way)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem contien distinct from the unstressed stem conten, 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 se contenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		se contenir			estre contenu
gerund		en contenant			gerund of estre + past participle
present participle		contenant
past participle		contenu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	me contieng, me contien	te contiens	se contient	nos contenons	vos contenez	se contienent
	imperfect	me contenoie, me conteneie	te contenoies, te conteneies	se contenoit, se conteneit	nos conteniiens, nos conteniens	vos conteniiez, vos conteniez	se contenoient, se conteneient
	preterite	me contin	te contenis	se contint	nos contenimes	vos contenistes	se contindrent, se continrent
	future	me contendrai	te contendras	se contendra	nos contendrons	vos contendroiz, vos contendreiz, vos contendrez	se contendront
	conditional	me contendroie, me contendreie	te contendroies, te contendreies	se contendroit, se contendreit	nos contendriiens, nos contendriens	vos contendriiez, vos contendriez	se contendroient, se contendreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of estre + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of estre + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of estre + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of estre + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	me contiegne	te contiegnes	se contiegne	nos contiegniens, nos contiegnons	vos contiegniez	se contiegnent
	imperfect	me contenisse	te contenisses	se contenist	nos contenissons, nos contenissiens	vos contenissoiz, vos contenissez, vos contenissiez	se contenissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of estre + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	contien-toi	—	contenons-nos	contenez-vos	—

Related terms

• countenance

Descendants

• English: contain
• French: contenir
• Norman: cont'nîn