How to Conjugate the Irregular French Verb 'Soutenir' ('to Support')

Soutenir ('to support," "to give support to," "to defend," "to maintain") is a common French verb that belongs to one of the groups within irregular -ir verbs that display some conjugation patterns: a first group of verbs that are conjugated like partir; a second group conjugated like verbs ending in -llir, -frir,  or -vrir; almost all of which are conjugated like regular -er verbs; and a third group ending in -enir, such as tenir ("to hold") and venir ("to come"), which follow a shared conjugation pattern in the present tense.

The verb soutenir belongs to the third group of irregular -ir verbs ending in -enir that are conjugated like tenir and venir. Note that the conjugations in the table at the bottom of the page are only those for simple tenses; compound conjugations of soutenir, which include a form of the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle soutenu, are not included.

There's one major difference in the compound tenses of tenir, venir, and their derivatives: Tenir and its derivatives use avoir as their auxiliary verb, while venir and most of its derivatives use être. There are many verbs conjugated like these two major French verbs.

Other FRENCH VERBS ENDING IN '-TENIR'

Verbs that end in -tenir are all conjugated the same way. They all take avoir as their auxiliary verb.

• s'abstenir > to refrain, abstain from
• appartenir > to belong to
• contenir > to contain
• détenir > to detain
• entretenir > to look after, support, foster, keep alive
• maintenir > to maintain
• obtenir > to obtain
• retenir > to retain
• tenir > to hold, keep

FRENCH VERBS ENDING IN '-VENIR'

Most verbs that end in -venir use être as their auxiliary verb. A few, such as circonvenir, prévenir, and se souvenir (see below) use avoir.

• advenir > to happen
• circonvenir > to circumvent, get around
• contrevenir > to contravene
• convenir > to suit, be suitable
• devenir > to become
• intervenir > to intervene
• parvenir > to reach, achieve
• prévenir > to warn
• provenir > to come from, be due to
• revenir > to come back
• se souvenir de > to remember
• subvenir > to provide for
• survenir > to occur, take place
• venir > to come

Expressions and Examples With 'Soutenir'

• Sa présence m'a beaucoup soutenue dans cette épreuve. > His presence was a great comfort to me in this ordeal
• Tu soutiens toujours ta fille contre moi ! > You always side with your daughter against me !
• soutenir une équipe > to be a fan of / to support a sports team
• Je pense que nous sommes libres mais elle soutient le contraire. > I think that we're free but she claims (that) the opposite is true.
• Il soutient que tu mens. > He keeps saying that you're a liar.
• soutenir la comparaison avec > to stand / to bear comparison with
• soutenir un siège militaire > to withstand a siege
• soutenir sa thèse > to defend one's thesis
• se soutenir (reciprocal pronominal) > to stand by each other, to stick together
• se soutenir (intransitive pronominal) > to hold oneself up, to support oneself
• Le vieillard n'arrivait plus à se soutenir sur ses jambes. > The old man's legs could no longer support / carry him.
• Elle se soutenait avec peine. > She could hardly stay upright.

HOW TO MEMORIZE FRENCH VERB CONJUGATIONS

Tip: Concentrate on the most useful tenses (présent, imparfait, passé composé) and get used to using them in context. Once you've mastered them, move on to the rest.

Training with an audio source may also be helpful. There are many liaisons, elisions, and modern glidings used with French verbs, and the written form may mislead you such that you end up using the wrong pronunciation.

Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French '-ir' Verb 'Soutenir'

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Present participle
je	soutiens	soutiendrai	soutenais	soutenant
tu	soutiens	soutiendras	soutenais
il	soutient	soutiendra	soutenait
nous	soutenons	soutiendrons	soutenions
vous	soutenez	soutiendrez	souteniez
ils	soutiennent	soutiendront	soutenaient

Passé composé
Auxiliary verb	avoir
Past participle	soutenu

	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé simple	Imperfect subjunctive
je	soutienne	soutiendrais	soutins	soutinsse
tu	soutiennes	soutiendrais	soutins	soutinsses
il	soutienne	soutiendrait	soutint	soutînt
nous	soutenions	soutiendrions	soutînmes	soutinssions
vous	souteniez	soutiendriez	soutîntes	soutinssiez
ils	soutiennent	soutiendraient	soutinrent	soutinssent

	Imperative
tu	soutiens
nous	soutenons
vous	soutenez