entretenir

Catalan

Etymology

From entre +‎ tenir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ən.tɾə.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [en.tɾe.teˈniɾ]
• Rhymes: -i(ɾ)

Verb

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

1. to delay, hold up

   Synonym: retenir

2. to entertain

   Synonyms: 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

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).niʁ/

• 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. 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 entretenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	entretenir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	entretenant /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		entretenu /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).ny/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(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.tjɛn/
	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 historic2	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.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	entretiendras /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	entretiendra /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	entretiendrons /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	entretiendrez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	entretiendront /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	entretiendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrait /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	entretiendrions /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	entretiendriez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	entretiendraient /ɑ̃.tʁə.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	entretienne /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛn/	entretiennes /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛn/	entretienne /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛn/	entretenions /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.njɔ̃/	entreteniez /ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.nje/	entretiennent /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛn/
	imperfect2	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	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	entretiens /ɑ̃.tʁə.tjɛ̃/	—	entretenons /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).nɔ̃/	entretenez /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).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).

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• inertèrent

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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