Commitments and Support With tenir
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4. november 2026
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Lytt og repeter
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Beyond literal holding, tenir appears constantly in everyday French to talk about what matters to you, the promises you keep, and how you support people around you.
- Care, attachment and encouragement among friends with tu
- Keeping people informed, keeping secrets and sticking to your word
- Deadlines, feedback and polite support at work with coworkers and a supervisor using vous
Pay attention to small building blocks like à, de and en, and notice where expressions drop the article, such as tenir parole and tenir compte de.
Voca-kort
1.
tenir à quelqu'un
to care about someone, to be fond of someone
Tu sais bien que je tiens beaucoup à toi.
You know very well how much I care about you.
With a person, keep 'à' plus a stressed pronoun ('je tiens à toi', 'je tiens à elle'); for a thing you care about, use 'y' ('j'y tiens').
2.
tenir à cœur à quelqu'un
to be close to someone's heart, to mean a lot to someone
Ce projet associatif me tient vraiment à cœur.
This community project is really close to my heart.
The thing that matters is the subject of the sentence, with an indirect object pronoun ('me', 'te', 'lui', 'nous', 'vous', 'leur') for the person.
3.
tenir compagnie à quelqu'un
to keep someone company
Si tu te sens seul ce soir, je passe te tenir compagnie.
If you're feeling lonely tonight, I'll stop by to keep you company.
4.
tenir le coup
to hold up, to cope
Avec le déménagement et la fatigue, tu arrives à tenir le coup ?
With the move and the exhaustion, are you managing to hold up okay?
Very common in spoken French to ask how someone is coping with stress, exhaustion or a difficult period.
5.
tenir bon
to hang in there, to hold on
Les travaux sont presque finis, tiens bon encore quelques jours !
The renovations are almost done, hang in there for just a few more days!
'Bon' stays invariable here because it works as an adverb meaning firmly.
6.
tenir quelqu'un au courant
to keep someone posted, to keep someone in the loop
Appelle-moi dès que tu sors de ton entretien, tiens-moi au courant.
Call me as soon as you get out of your interview, keep me posted.
Works equally well with friends ('tiens-moi au courant') and at work ('je vous tiens au courant').
7.
se tenir au courant
to stay informed, to keep up to date
Même en déplacement, Camille se tient au courant de la vie du quartier.
Even when she's away on business, Camille keeps up to date with what's going on in the neighborhood.
Followed by 'de' when you name what you are following ('se tenir au courant de quelque chose').
8.
tenir sa langue
to hold one's tongue, to keep quiet
C'est une surprise pour l'anniversaire de Chloé, alors tiens ta langue !
It's a surprise for Chloé's birthday, so hold your tongue!
Informal expression meaning to keep quiet about a secret.
9.
tenir sa promesse
to keep one's promise
Lucas m'avait promis un coup de main dimanche et il a tenu sa promesse.
Lucas promised to give me a hand on Sunday, and he kept his promise.
10.
tenir parole
to keep one's word
Tu peux lui faire confiance, c'est quelqu'un qui tient toujours parole.
You can trust him; he's someone who always keeps his word.
Used without an article or possessive word before 'parole'.
11.
ne tenir qu'à quelqu'un
to be entirely up to someone
Si tu as envie de changer de poste, ça ne tient qu'à toi de postuler.
If you want to change jobs, it's entirely up to you to apply.
Used impersonally ('ça ne tient qu'à...', 'il ne tient qu'à...') to say the decision rests entirely with someone.
12.
tenir à faire quelque chose
to make a point of doing something, to really want to do something
Je tiens à vous remercier pour votre accueil dans l'équipe.
I really want to thank you for welcoming me to the team.
Expresses strong personal desire or polite insistence, especially when thanking or explaining.
13.
tenir un rôle
to play a role, to have a role
Dans ce projet, chacun d'entre nous tient un rôle précis.
In this project, each of us plays a specific role.
14.
se tenir prêt
to stand ready, to be ready
Fais-moi signe si tu es débordé, je me tiens prêt à t'aider.
Let me know if you're swamped; I'm ready to help you out.
'Prêt' agrees with the person ('prêt', 'prête', 'prêts', 'prêtes') and takes 'à' before a verb.
15.
tenir compte de quelque chose
to take something into account, to take something into consideration
Nous avons tenu compte de vos remarques pour modifier la présentation.
We took your feedback into account when revising the presentation.
Used without an article before 'compte', and replaced by 'en' when the object was already mentioned ('j'en tiens compte').
16.
s'en tenir à quelque chose
to stick to something
Pour ne pas dépasser le budget, on doit s'en tenir au plan de départ.
To avoid going over budget, we have to stick to the original plan.
'En' stays fixed inside this expression even when 'à quelque chose' follows right after.
17.
tenir la route
to hold up well, to be solid, to hold water
J'ai relu ta proposition pour le client, franchement elle tient la route.
I read over your proposal for the client, and honestly, it's really solid.
Originally about a car handling well on the road; in everyday speech it means an idea or piece of work is solid.
18.
tenir les délais
to meet the deadline, to stay on schedule
Si tout le monde valide sa partie aujourd'hui, nous tiendrons les délais.
If everyone signs off on their part today, we'll meet the deadline.
Usually plural ('les délais') when talking about staying on schedule.
19.
tenir tête à quelqu'un
to stand up to someone
Pendant la réunion, Nadia a osé tenir tête au directeur financier.
During the meeting, Nadia dared to stand up to the finance director.
Used without an article before 'tête'.
20.
tenir quelqu'un pour responsable
to hold someone responsible, to hold someone accountable
En cas de nouveau retard, le client nous tiendra pour responsables.
If there's another delay, the client will hold us responsible.
'Pour' is sometimes dropped in everyday speech ('tenir quelqu'un responsable'), and 'responsable' agrees with the person.
21.
en tenir rigueur à quelqu'un
to hold it against someone
Tout le monde peut faire une erreur, je ne vous en tiendrai pas rigueur.
Anyone can make a mistake; I won't hold it against you.
Almost always used in the negative ('ne pas en tenir rigueur') to reassure someone that you do not hold a mistake against them.
22.
se tenir à la disposition de quelqu'un
to be at someone's disposal, to be available to someone
Je me tiens à votre disposition si vous souhaitez revoir certains points.
I'm available if you'd like to go over certain points again.
A polite standard closing in professional messages and conversations with a supervisor or client.