Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to detain.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détiens | I detain | |
| tu | détiens | you detain | |
| il / elle / on | détient | he / she / it detainson: we detain / one detains | |
| nous | détenons | we detain | |
| vous | détenez | you detain | |
| ils / elles | détiennent | they detain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le policier détient un suspect.
The police officer detains a suspect.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai détenu | I detained | |
| tu | as détenu | you detained | |
| il / elle / on | a détenu | he / she / it detainedon: we detained / one detained | |
| nous | avons détenu | we detained | |
| vous | avez détenu | you detained | |
| ils / elles | ont détenu | they detained |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le policier a détenu un suspect.
Yesterday, the police officer detained a suspect.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détenais | I used to detain | |
| tu | détenais | you used to detain | |
| il / elle / on | détenait | he / she / it used to detainon: we used to detain / one used to detain | |
| nous | détenions | we used to detain | |
| vous | déteniez | you used to detain | |
| ils / elles | détenaient | they used to detain |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le policier détenait un suspect.
Back then, the police officer used to detain a suspect.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détiendrai | I will detain | |
| tu | détiendras | you will detain | |
| il / elle / on | détiendra | he / she / it will detainon: we will detain / one will detain | |
| nous | détiendrons | we will detain | |
| vous | détiendrez | you will detain | |
| ils / elles | détiendront | they will detain |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le policier détiendra un suspect.
Later, the police officer will detain a suspect.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détiendrais | I would detain | |
| tu | détiendrais | you would detain | |
| il / elle / on | détiendrait | he / she / it would detainon: we would detain / one would detain | |
| nous | détiendrions | we would detain | |
| vous | détiendriez | you would detain | |
| ils / elles | détiendraient | they would detain |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le policier détiendrait un suspect.
The police officer would detain a suspect.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détienne | (that) I detain | |
| tu | détiennes | (that) you detain | |
| il / elle / on | détienne | (that) he / she / it detainson: (that) we detain / one detains | |
| nous | détenions | (that) we detain | |
| vous | déteniez | (that) you detain | |
| ils / elles | détiennent | (that) they detain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le policier détienne un suspect.
It is possible that the police officer detains a suspect.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to detain
- to possess, to have, to hold
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations