“Tenir à”: A Small French Expression With a Lot of Heart

Speaking French
1

The French expression “tenir à” is one of those little phrases that carries a lot more emotion than it seems. With the preposition à, it means to care deeply about someone or something. And the feeling is strong…. much stronger than a simple “like”.

If you lend a precious object, you might say: Fais attention à ce livre, j’y tiens beaucoup. It means the book matters to you, emotionally or personally.
And with people, it becomes even more tender: Je tiens beaucoup à toi → “You’re very important to me.”

It’s a lovely expression to hear… and a powerful one to use. A small structure, but a big way to express affection in everyday French.

Do you need French for your every day life ?

I’m French native teacher from Bretagne based in Budapest where I was teaching for 16 years at the university.

I give classes online for all levels :slight_smile:

WhatsApp +36302863962
carreguillaume@hotmail.com
Have a look to my Facebook page : Learn French with Guillaume

V Expats en Sws
V Expats en Sws1414×2000 249 KB

2 Likes
2

Thank you, @Guillaume

I think of tenir à as “to be attached to”, which works for objects and people — though not, I think, for animals.

1 Like
3

You can also say eg je tiens à ce qu’il soit là pour mon anniversaire, Gertrude fera du piano/ du violin, j’y tiens, etc

@Porridge of course it works for animals, je tiens beaucoup à mon chat/ j’ai eu beaucoup de chats mais celui là, j’y tiens etc.

2 Likes
4

But ‘je tiens a vous dire’ just seems to mean ‘I would like to tell you’ quite often?

5

I meant the English version, of course.

Is it hot where you are?

6

Yes but also with the little shade '“it’s important for me tell you” / “I would really want to tell you”:slightly_smiling_face:

7

Oh sorry, I got the wrong end of the stick!

1 Like
8

@Guillaume, I suspect you could get a series of lessons out of all the ways tenir can be used!

@vero , I think I was so struck by the distinction between those we might be attached to - friends, objects - and those we wouldn’t use “attached to” with that I didn’t make it explicit.

9

JR Ackerley wrote a book about his dog Tulip and describes how attached he is to her, I think even using that specific expression (though I may be wrong, it’s a book I haven’t seen since I found it serendipitously in my college library and read it some 45 years ago!) - so I think that you can use it, even in English.
Edited for typo

10

I don’t know the book but I’ll take the correction.

11

Yes…. And I will also lessons about the prépositions : En vouloir à quelqu’un / S’attendre à/ S’en prendre à, etc…

1 Like