soutenir
French
Etymology
From Middle French soubtenir, from Old French sustenir, soustenir, from Vulgar Latin *sustenīre, from Latin sustinēre, present active infinitive of sustineō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sut.niʁ/, /su.tə.niʁ/
audio (file)
Verb
soutenir
- to support
- to keep up
- (used with que) to maintain (that)
- to argue
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 soutenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | soutenir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | soutenant /sut.nɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | soutenu /sut.ny/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | soutiens /su.tjɛ̃/ | soutiens /su.tjɛ̃/ | soutient /su.tjɛ̃/ | soutenons /sut.nɔ̃/ | soutenez /sut.ne/ | soutiennent /su.tjɛn/ |
| imperfect | soutenais /sut.nɛ/ | soutenais /sut.nɛ/ | soutenait /sut.nɛ/ | soutenions /su.tə.njɔ̃/ | souteniez /su.tə.nje/ | soutenaient /sut.nɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | soutins /su.tɛ̃/ | soutins /su.tɛ̃/ | soutint /su.tɛ̃/ | soutînmes /su.tɛ̃m/ | soutîntes /su.tɛ̃t/ | soutinrent /su.tɛ̃ʁ/ | |
| future | soutiendrai /su.tjɛ̃.dʁe/ | soutiendras /su.tjɛ̃.dʁa/ | soutiendra /su.tjɛ̃.dʁa/ | soutiendrons /su.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/ | soutiendrez /su.tjɛ̃.dʁe/ | soutiendront /su.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | soutiendrais /su.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ | soutiendrais /su.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ | soutiendrait /su.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ | soutiendrions /su.tjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/ | soutiendriez /su.tjɛ̃.dʁi.je/ | soutiendraient /su.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 | soutienne /su.tjɛn/ | soutiennes /su.tjɛn/ | soutienne /su.tjɛn/ | soutenions /su.tə.njɔ̃/ | souteniez /su.tə.nje/ | soutiennent /su.tjɛn/ |
| imperfect2 | soutinsse /su.tɛ̃s/ | soutinsses /su.tɛ̃s/ | soutînt /su.tɛ̃/ | soutinssions /su.tɛ̃.sjɔ̃/ | soutinssiez /su.tɛ̃.sje/ | soutinssent /su.tɛ̃s/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | soutiens /su.tjɛ̃/ | — | soutenons /sut.nɔ̃/ | soutenez /sut.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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
- soutenu
- soutien
Further reading
- “soutenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- sourient, tuerions
Norman
Etymology
From Old French sustenir, from Latin sustineo.
Verb
soutenir
- to support
Conjugation
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Conjugation of the verb « soutenir » in Norman| infinitive | soutenir | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | soutenant | ||||||
| auxiliary | aveir1 | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | soutint | soutinte | |||||
| plural | soutints | soutintes | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | je (j') | tu (t') | il, alle, nos | je (nos) | vos | il, alles | |
| present | soutiens | soutiens | soutient | soutenoms | soutenez | soutiennent | |
| imperfect | souteneis | souteneis | souteneit | soutenioms | souteniez | souteneient | |
| preterite | soutins | soutins | soutint | soutînmes | soutîntes | soutîntrent | |
| future | soutiendrai | soutiendras | soutiendra | soutiendroms | soutiendrez | soutiendront | |
| conditional | soutiendreis | soutiendreis | soutiendreit | soutiendrioms | soutiendriez | soutiendreient | |
| subjunctive | que je (j') | que te (t') | qu'il, qu'alle, que nos | que je (que nos) | que vos | qu'il, qu'alles | |
| present | soutienne | soutiennes | soutienne | soutenioms | souteniez | soutiennent | |
| imperfect | soutinsse | soutinsses | soutînt soutinsse | soutinssioms | soutinssiez | soutinssent | |
| imperative | — | tu | — | je (nos) | vos | — | |
| soutiens | soutenoms | soutenez | |||||
| 1Used with past participles. | |||||||
Related terms
- soutien