obtenir

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obtinēre; adapted to inherited tenir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [up.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [op.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [op.teˈniɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

obtenir (first-person singular present obtinc, first-person singular preterite obtinguí, past participle obtingut); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. to obtain, to get

Conjugation

    Conjugation of obtenir (third conjugation, without -eix-, irregular, with velar infix)

infinitive			obtenir
gerund			obtenint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		obtingut		obtinguda
		plural		obtinguts		obtingudes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	obtinc	obtens	obté	obtenim	obteniu	obtenen
	imperfect	obtenia	obtenies	obtenia	obteníem	obteníeu	obtenien
	future	obtindré	obtindràs	obtindrà	obtindrem	obtindreu	obtindran
	preterite	obtinguí	obtingueres	obtingué	obtinguérem	obtinguéreu	obtingueren
	conditional	obtindria	obtindries	obtindria	obtindríem	obtindríeu	obtindrien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	obtingui	obtinguis	obtingui	obtinguem	obtingueu	obtinguin
	imperfect	obtingués	obtinguessis	obtingués	obtinguéssim	obtinguéssiu	obtinguessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	obtén, obtingues	obtingui	obtinguem	obteniu, obtingueu	obtinguin
	negative (no)	—	no obtinguis	no obtingui	no obtinguem	no obtingueu	no obtinguin

Related terms

• obtenció
• obtenidor
• obteniment

Further reading

• “obtenir” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “obtenir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “obtenir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “obtenir” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French, from Old French obtenir, borrowed from Latin obtinēre, with conjugation based on tenir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.tə.niʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

obtenir

1. to get, to obtain

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

Conjugation of obtenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	obtenir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	obtenant /ɔp.tə.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		obtenu /ɔp.tə.ny/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	obtiens /ɔp.tjɛ̃/	obtiens /ɔp.tjɛ̃/	obtient /ɔp.tjɛ̃/	obtenons /ɔp.tə.nɔ̃/	obtenez /ɔp.tə.ne/	obtiennent /ɔp.tjɛn/
	imperfect	obtenais /ɔp.tə.nɛ/	obtenais /ɔp.tə.nɛ/	obtenait /ɔp.tə.nɛ/	obtenions /ɔp.tə.njɔ̃/	obteniez /ɔp.tə.nje/	obtenaient /ɔp.tə.nɛ/
	past historic2	obtins /ɔp.tɛ̃/	obtins /ɔp.tɛ̃/	obtint /ɔp.tɛ̃/	obtînmes /ɔp.tɛ̃m/	obtîntes /ɔp.tɛ̃t/	obtinrent /ɔp.tɛ̃ʁ/
	future	obtiendrai /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	obtiendras /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	obtiendra /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁa/	obtiendrons /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	obtiendrez /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁe/	obtiendront /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	obtiendrais /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	obtiendrais /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	obtiendrait /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	obtiendrions /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	obtiendriez /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	obtiendraient /ɔp.tjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	obtienne /ɔp.tjɛn/	obtiennes /ɔp.tjɛn/	obtienne /ɔp.tjɛn/	obtenions /ɔp.tə.njɔ̃/	obteniez /ɔp.tə.nje/	obtiennent /ɔp.tjɛn/
	imperfect2	obtinsse /ɔp.tɛ̃s/	obtinsses /ɔp.tɛ̃s/	obtînt /ɔp.tɛ̃/	obtinssions /ɔp.tɛ̃.sjɔ̃/	obtinssiez /ɔp.tɛ̃.sje/	obtinssent /ɔp.tɛ̃s/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	obtiens /ɔp.tjɛ̃/	—	obtenons /ɔp.tə.nɔ̃/	obtenez /ɔp.tə.ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “obtenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• broient, robinet

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French obtenir.

Verb

obtenir

1. to obtain

Descendants

• English: obtain
• French: obtenir

Old French

Etymology

First known attestation 1283, borrowed from Latin obtineō, obtinēre, with conjugation modeled on tenir.

Verb

obtenir

1. to obtain

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem obtien distinct from the unstressed stem obten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of obtenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		obtenir			avoir obtenu
gerund		en obtenant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		obtenant
past participle		obtenu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	obtieng, obtien	obtiens	obtient	obtenons	obtenez	obtienent
	imperfect	obtenoie, obteneie	obtenoies, obteneies	obtenoit, obteneit	obteniiens, obteniens	obteniiez, obteniez	obtenoient, obteneient
	preterite	obtin	obtenis	obtint	obtenimes	obtenistes	obtindrent, obtinrent
	future	obtendrai	obtendras	obtendra	obtendrons	obtendroiz, obtendreiz, obtendrez	obtendront
	conditional	obtendroie, obtendreie	obtendroies, obtendreies	obtendroit, obtendreit	obtendriiens, obtendriens	obtendriiez, obtendriez	obtendroient, obtendreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	obtiegne	obtiegnes	obtiegne	obtiegniens, obtiegnons	obtiegniez	obtiegnent
	imperfect	obtenisse	obtenisses	obtenist	obtenissons, obtenissiens	obtenissoiz, obtenissez, obtenissiez	obtenissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	obtien	—	obtenons	obtenez	—

Descendants

• English: obtain
• Middle French: obtenir
  • French: obtenir