tenir à
Meanings
Verb
1. to be attached to; to be joined to (literally, physically)
2. to be attached to (figuratively, emotionally), to like, to be fond of
3. to wish, to want, would like
4. to insist on (tenir à ce que + subjunctive / tenir à + infinitive)
5. to derive from; to be born of; to be the result of (of abstracts)
6. be up to (to be left to the whims of), for all ~ cares; to depend on (to be contingent on) (impersonal)
7. (of persons) to stick to/with/within, to keep to, to limit oneself to, to be content with; (of abstracts) to stay in bounds of, to keep to (pronominal, s'en tenir à / se tenir à)
Examples8
Nous devrions nous en tenir à notre plan.
We should stick to our plan.
Merci de m'aider à m'en tenir à mon régime.
Thank you for helping me stick to my diet.
L'argent nous permettra de tenir à peu près un mois.
The money will carry us for about a month.
Je ne pouvais simplement pas me tenir à distance.
I just couldn't stay away.
Tu dois te tenir à l'écart de cette bande.
You must steer clear of that gang.
Je pense que tu devrais t'en tenir à ton programme d'entraînement.
I think you should stick to your training schedule.