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Conjugation Chart of “Retener” (to retain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Retener”

The preterite of retener is used to express when someone retained or held onto something at a specific moment in the past. For example, “The company retained its best employees during the recession” – “La empresa retuvo a sus mejores empleados durante la recesión.”

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. Like other -tener verbs, it uses the stem ‘tuv-‘ throughout all conjugations.

How to Use Retener in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of retener expresses completed acts of keeping or retaining.

To retain/keep: Used for keeping something in possession, for example Retuve el documento hasta que firmaron (I retained the document until they signed).

To hold back/detain: Describes preventing movement, for example Lo retuvieron en la oficina (They detained him in the office).

Real Life Examples of Retener in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Retuve la información en mi memoria. (I retained the information in my memory.)

La empresa retuvo a sus mejores empleados. (The company retained its best employees.)

Retuvimos los documentos como evidencia. (We kept the documents as evidence.)

¿Por qué retuviste esa carta tanto tiempo? (Why did you keep that letter for so long?)

El banco retuvo los fondos por una semana. (The bank held the funds for a week.)

Retuvieron el pago hasta verificar el trabajo. (They withheld payment until verifying the work.)

La presa retuvo el agua durante la sequía. (The dam retained the water during the drought.)

Retuve el aliento al ver la sorpresa. (I held my breath when I saw the surprise.)

Retuvimos la calma en el momento crítico. (We kept our calm at the critical moment.)

El filtro retuvo todas las impurezas. (The filter retained all the impurities.)

Retuviste muy bien las instrucciones. (You retained the instructions very well.)

Las autoridades retuvieron el pasaporte. (The authorities held the passport.)

Retuvo su posición en la empresa. (He maintained his position in the company.)

Retuvimos los detalles importantes. (We retained the important details.)

La tierra retuvo la humedad por días. (The soil retained moisture for days.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Retener (to retain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.