entretenir

Catalan

Etymology

entre + tenir.

Verb

entretenir (first-person singular present entretinc, past participle entretingut)

1. to delay, to hold up
2. to entertain

Conjugation

    Conjugation of entretenir (second conjugation with velar infix, type tenir)

infinitive			entretenir
present participle			entretenint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		entretingut		entretinguda
		plural		entretinguts		entretingudes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	entretinc	entretens	entreté	entretenim	entreteniu	entretenen
	imperfect	entretenia	entretenies	entretenia	entreteníem	entreteníeu	entretenien
	future	entretindré	entretindràs	entretindrà	entretindrem	entretindreu	entretindran
	preterite	entretinguí	entretingueres	entretingué	entretinguérem	entretinguéreu	entretingueren
	conditional	entretindria	entretindries	entretindria	entretindríem	entretindríeu	entretindrien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	entretingui	entretinguis	entretingui	entretinguem	entretingueu	entretinguin
	imperfect	entretingués	entretinguessis	entretingués	entretinguéssim	entretinguéssiu	entretinguessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
		—	entreté	entretingui	entretinguem	entreteniu	entretinguin

Synonyms

• (delay): retenir
• (entertain): divertir, distreure

Derived terms

• entretenir-se

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French

Etymology

From Middle French entretenir, from Old French entretenir; equivalent to entre + tenir.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

entretenir

1. (transitive) to maintain, to look after
2. (transitive) to support (e.g a family)
3. (transitive, figuratively) to fuel, to keep something going
4. (reflexive) to have a discussion (with someone)
5. (reflexive) to keep fit

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.

  Conjugation of entretenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		entretenir			avoir entretenu
gerund		en entretenant			en ayant entretenu
present participle		entretenant /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɑ̃/
past participle		entretenu /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).ny/
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	entretiens /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃/	entretiens /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃/	entretient /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃/	entretenons /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɔ̃/	entretenez /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).ne/	entretiennent /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛn/
	imperfect	entretenais /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɛ/	entretenais /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɛ/	entretenait /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɛ/	entretenions /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.njɔ̃/	entreteniez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.nje/	entretenaient /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɛ/
	past historic1	entretins /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃/	entretins /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃/	entretint /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃/	entretînmes /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃m/	entretîntes /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃t/	entretinrent /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃ʁ/
	future	entretiendrai /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁe/	entretiendras /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁa/	entretiendra /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁa/	entretiendrons /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	entretiendrez /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁe/	entretiendront /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	entretiendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrait /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrions /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	entretiendriez /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	entretiendraient /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	entretienne /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛn/	entretiennes /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛn/	entretienne /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛn/	entretenions /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.njɔ̃/	entreteniez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.nje/	entretiennent /ɑ̃.tʁə.sjɛn/
	imperfect1	entretinsse /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃s/	entretinsses /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃s/	entretînt /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃/	entretinssions /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃.sjɔ̃/	entretinssiez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃.sje/	entretinssent /ɑ̃.tʁə.tɛ̃s/
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	entretiens /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃/	—	entretenons /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɔ̃/	entretenez /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).ne/	—
1literary tenses

Anagrams

• inertèrent

Further reading

• “entretenir” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French entretenir.

Verb

entretenir

1. (transitive) to maintain; to look after

Descendants

• English: entertain
• French: entretenir

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Old French

Etymology

entre + tenir.

Verb

entretenir

1. (reflexive, s'entretenir) to support one another

Descendants

• Middle French: entretenir
  • English: entertain
  • French: entretenir