retienen

Retienen is the present indicative, third-person plural form of the Spanish verb retener. The verb retener has several related meanings, including to hold back or keep in possession, to detain someone temporarily, to retain or preserve information, and to cause the body to retain fluids. The form retienen is used with plural subjects, for example: Los agentes retienen a varios sospechosos.

Etymology and forms: Retener comes from Latin retinere, formed from re- “back” + tenere “to hold.” In contemporary Spanish it is a regular -er verb with a present tense paradigm that includes yo retengo, tú retienes, él retiene, nosotros retenemos, vosotros retenéis, ellos retienen. Related nouns include retención (retention, detention) and adjectives such as retentivo.

Usage notes: Detaining or holding in possession is a common sense, as in security or law enforcement: Los agentes retienen a varios sospechosos. Retener can also mean to keep something in one’s possession, as in la empresa retiene parte de sus ingresos para inversiones. For information or memory, retener means to hold in memory or to preserve data: los estudiantes retienen conceptos clave; la memoria retiene información. In medical contexts, retener líquidos describes the body’s tendency to hold fluids, with la retención de líquidos as the corresponding noun. In all these senses, retienen is used with plural subjects; with singular subjects the form is retiene.

See also: retención, retener, retentivo.