From an earlier cunteni, generally assumed to be from Latin continēre, present active infinitive of contineō (and if so, a doublet of conține). However, this is somewhat problematic as it deviates from the usual change of Latin con- into Romanian cu (preserving the n), and tenere into ține (therefore the expected result would have been a *cuține or *cuținea), but other exceptions also exist. Nonetheless, it appears in texts as far back as the 16th century. Other theories suggest a Vulgar Latin root *cunctināre, from cunctārī (cf. Aromanian acumtin (“I stop, cease”)). It may have been also influenced by *contenuāre, from tenuāre.
| Audio: | (file) |
a conteni (third-person singular present contenește, past participle contenit) 4th conj.
| infinitive | a conteni | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | contenind | ||||||
| past participle | contenit | ||||||
| number | singular | plural | |||||
| person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
| indicative | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
| present | contenesc | contenești | contenește | contenim | conteniți | contenesc | |
| imperfect | conteneam | conteneai | contenea | conteneam | conteneați | conteneau | |
| simple perfect | contenii | conteniși | conteni | contenirăm | contenirăți | conteniră | |
| pluperfect | contenisem | conteniseși | contenise | conteniserăm | conteniserăți | conteniseră | |
| subjunctive | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
| present | să contenesc | să contenești | să contenească | să contenim | să conteniți | să contenească | |
| imperative | — | tu | — | — | voi | — | |
| affirmative | contenește | conteniți | |||||
| negative | nu conteni | nu conteniți | |||||