retenais

Retenais is the second person singular imperfect indicative form of the French verb retenir. The verb retenir has several related senses in modern French, including to hold back, to retain, to detain, to keep, to remember, or to absorb and remember information. The imperfect form, such as retenais, is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or to set a background scene.

Conjugation in the imperfect for the verb retenir is built from the stem reten- with the imperfect endings: je retenais, tu retenais, il/elle retenait, nous retenions, vous reteniez, ils/elles retenaient. This form contrasts with the passé composé, which would express a completed past action, for example tu as retenu.

Etymology traces retenais to the verb retenir, which derives from Latin retinere, formed from re- “back” plus tenere “to hold.” Over time, its meanings broadened in French to include both physical holding back and more figurative senses such as keeping information in mind or remembering something.

Usage notes: retenir is versatile and appears in many expressions, such as retenir les larmes (to hold back one’s tears), retenir une leçon (to retain/remember a lesson), or retenir quelqu’un en captivité (to detain someone). The imperfect retenais is appropriate when describing past states or repeated past actions, while other tenses convey completed past actions or more precise timelines.

See also: retenir, retenir les leçons, détention, mémoire.