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tenir à

French, verb/tə.ni.ʁ‿a/

tenir à is a French verb meaning “to be attached to; to be joined to (literally, physically)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

What does tenir à mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to be attached to; to be joined to (literally, physically)

  2. 2

    to be attached to (figuratively, emotionally), to like, to be fond of

    Je tiens beaucoup à mes amis.

  3. 3

    to wish, to want, would like

    Je tiens à ce que tu sois là demain.

  4. 4

    to insist on

  5. 5

    to derive from; to be born of; to be the result of (of abstracts)

  6. 6

    be up to (to be left to the whims of), for all ~ cares; to depend on (to be contingent on)

    il tient à + quelqu'un ou quelque chose + que + subjonctif

  7. 7

    (of persons) to stick to/with/within, to keep to, to limit oneself to, to be content with; (of abstracts) to stay in bounds of, to keep to

Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How do you pronounce tenir à?

  • /tə.ni.ʁ‿a/
  • /tə.ni.ʁ‿a s(ə) kə/
  • /s‿ɑ̃ t(ə).ni.ʁ‿a/

Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to tenir à

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.