maintiennent

Maintiennent is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb maintenir, meaning to maintain, keep, uphold, or preserve. It is used with subjects ils or elles and appears in sentences that refer to actions of keeping something in a state, position, or condition.

Etymology and meaning

Maintenir derives from Old French maintenir, itself from the Latin manu tenere, literally “to hold by the hand.” The French verb belongs to a family of -tenir verbs that share a common pattern and meaning related to holding or sustaining.

Conjugation and form

In the present tense, the forms are: je maintiens, tu maintiens, il maintient, nous maintenons, vous maintenez, ils maintiennent. The form maintiennent specifically corresponds to the third-person plural. The past participle of maintenir is maintenu, used with the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses, as in “Ils ont maintenu la porte fermée.” The verb is irregular in its conjugation relative to regular -er or -ir verbs, reflecting its historic -tenir verb family.

Usage

Maintiennent can describe physical actions, such as keeping a door closed or supporting a structure: “Ils maintiennent la porte avec une barre.” It is also used in a more abstract sense to mean upholding or defending a position or claim: “Ils maintiennent que les mesures sont efficaces.” The phrase “maintenir que” is common in argumentative or formal discourse to express assertion or justification.

Related terms

The noun le maintien refers to the act or state of maintaining, keeping, or sustaining something. The verb maintenir itself is closely related to tenir and other -tenir verbs, such as soutenir and soutenir.