contener

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin contineō, continēre. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old French contenir.

Verb

contener

1. to contain
2. (reflexive, se contener) to behave

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “continere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 1106

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin continēre. Cognate with English contain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konteˈneɾ/ [kõn̪.t̪eˈneɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: con‧te‧ner

Verb

contener (first-person singular present contengo, first-person singular preterite contuve, past participle contenido)

1. to contain
2. to hold

   contener el aliento

   hold one's breath

3. to restrain, check
4. to control

Conjugation

    Conjugation of contener (irregular; e-ie alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			contener
gerund			conteniendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		contenido		contenida
		plural		contenidos		contenidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	contengo	contienestú contenésvos	contiene	contenemos	contenéis	contienen
	imperfect	contenía	contenías	contenía	conteníamos	conteníais	contenían
	preterite	contuve	contuviste	contuvo	contuvimos	contuvisteis	contuvieron
	future	contendré	contendrás	contendrá	contendremos	contendréis	contendrán
	conditional	contendría	contendrías	contendría	contendríamos	contendríais	contendrían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	contenga	contengastú contengásvos2	contenga	contengamos	contengáis	contengan
	imperfect (ra)	contuviera	contuvieras	contuviera	contuviéramos	contuvierais	contuvieran
	imperfect (se)	contuviese	contuvieses	contuviese	contuviésemos	contuvieseis	contuviesen
	future1	contuviere	contuvieres	contuviere	contuviéremos	contuviereis	contuvieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		conténtú contenévos	contenga	contengamos	contened	contengan
	negative		no contengas	no contenga	no contengamos	no contengáis	no contengan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of contener (irregular; e-ie alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive contener
	dative	contenerme	contenerte	contenerle, contenerse	contenernos	conteneros	contenerles, contenerse
	accusative	contenerme	contenerte	contenerlo, contenerla, contenerse	contenernos	conteneros	contenerlos, contenerlas, contenerse
with gerund conteniendo
	dative	conteniéndome	conteniéndote	conteniéndole, conteniéndose	conteniéndonos	conteniéndoos	conteniéndoles, conteniéndose
	accusative	conteniéndome	conteniéndote	conteniéndolo, conteniéndola, conteniéndose	conteniéndonos	conteniéndoos	conteniéndolos, conteniéndolas, conteniéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative contén
	dative	contenme	contente	contenle	contennos	not used	contenles
	accusative	contenme	contente	contenlo, contenla	contennos	not used	contenlos, contenlas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative contené
	dative	conteneme	contenete	contenele	contenenos	not used	conteneles
	accusative	conteneme	contenete	contenelo, contenela	contenenos	not used	contenelos, contenelas
with formal second-person singular imperative contenga
	dative	conténgame	not used	conténgale, conténgase	conténganos	not used	conténgales
	accusative	conténgame	not used	conténgalo, conténgala, conténgase	conténganos	not used	conténgalos, conténgalas
with first-person plural imperative contengamos
	dative	not used	contengámoste	contengámosle	contengámonos	contengámoos	contengámosles
	accusative	not used	contengámoste	contengámoslo, contengámosla	contengámonos	contengámoos	contengámoslos, contengámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative contened
	dative	contenedme	not used	contenedle	contenednos	conteneos	contenedles
	accusative	contenedme	not used	contenedlo, contenedla	contenednos	conteneos	contenedlos, contenedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative contengan
	dative	conténganme	not used	conténganle	conténgannos	not used	conténganles, conténganse
	accusative	conténganme	not used	conténganlo, conténganla	conténgannos	not used	conténganlos, conténganlas, conténganse

Related terms

• contenedor
• contenerse
• contenido
• continente
• incontenible

 

Further reading

• “contener”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28