Tener (to Have) in Spanish

In Brief

Tener usually means “to have,” but Spanish also uses it in expressions that English builds with “to be”: tener hambre means “to be hungry,” and tener 30 años means “to be 30 years old.” Its present-tense forms are irregular: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. Follow tener que with an infinitive to say that someone has to do something.

Overview

Tener is one of the most useful Spanish verbs. You need it to talk about possessions and relationships, describe age and common physical states, say that someone is right, and express obligations. Because these functions appear constantly in everyday conversation, tener is introduced at A1.

A verb is a word for an action, event, or state. The infinitive (the basic, unconjugated form, like English “to have”) is tener. When the person or number changes, Spanish changes the form of the verb: tengo for “I have,” tienes for informal singular “you have,” and so on.

English speakers can often translate tener as “have,” but not always word for word. Spanish says that a person “has” hunger, cold, or a certain number of years where natural English uses “be.” Learning each expression as a complete phrase is more reliable than translating one word at a time.

How It Works

Present-tense forms

The subject is the person or thing that the sentence is about. Spanish subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb form already identifies the subject, but they are included here to make the pattern clear.

Subject	Present form	Usual English meaning
yo	tengo	I have
tú	tienes	you have (singular, informal)
él / ella / usted	tiene	he / she has; you have (singular, formal)
nosotros / nosotras	tenemos	we have
vosotros / vosotras	tenéis	you all have (informal, mainly Spain)
ellos / ellas / ustedes	tienen	they have; you all have

There are two irregularities to notice. Tengo has an unexpected -g-, and the forms tienes, tiene, tienen change the stem vowel from e to ie. Tenemos and tenéis keep the original e. The written accent in tenéis marks the stressed syllable.

In ordinary conversation, Tengo dos hermanas is more natural than Yo tengo dos hermanas unless yo adds contrast: Yo tengo dos hermanas, pero Ana tiene tres (“I have two sisters, but Ana has three”).

Possession and relationships

Use tener for something a person owns, carries, or has available:

• Tengo un coche. — I have a car.
• ¿Tienes tiempo? — Do you have time?
• No tenemos dinero en efectivo. — We do not have cash.

It also describes relationships and personal features that English expresses with “have”: tener hijos (to have children), tener amigos (to have friends), or tener los ojos verdes (to have green eyes). Spanish normally uses an indefinite article with a countable possession—Tengo un coche—but generally no article before an unmodified close-family noun after tener: Tengo dos hermanos.

To make a negative sentence, put no immediately before the conjugated verb: No tengo coche. To ask a question, Spanish can keep the same word order and use question intonation and punctuation: ¿Tienes coche?

Age

Spanish expresses age with tener + number + años:

• Tengo veintisiete años. — I am twenty-seven years old.
• ¿Cuántos años tiene usted? — How old are you? (formal)
• Mi hija tiene seis meses. — My daughter is six months old.

Do not use ser (“to be”) for age. In context, Tiene veinte is possible with años understood, but beginners should include años.

Physical states, feelings, and evaluations

Several extremely common expressions use tener + noun. A noun is a word that names a person, thing, idea, or state. English often uses “be + adjective” for the same meaning.

Spanish expression	Natural English
tener hambre	to be hungry
tener sed	to be thirsty
tener frío	to be cold
tener calor	to be hot
tener sueño	to be sleepy
tener miedo	to be afraid
tener prisa	to be in a hurry
tener razón	to be right

These nouns usually appear without an article in the basic expression: Tengo hambre, not Tengo un hambre. They can be modified: Tengo mucha hambre (“I am very hungry”), Tiene muchísimo sueño (“He/She is extremely sleepy”), and Tenemos un poco de miedo (“We are a little afraid”). Some emphatic or descriptive uses do allow an article, but they are not the beginner pattern.

Tener frío describes the person who feels cold. Hacer frío describes cold weather: Tengo frío porque hace frío (“I am cold because it is cold out”). The same distinction applies to tener calor and hacer calor.

Obligation: tener que + infinitive

Use a conjugated form of tener, followed by que and an infinitive, for a personal obligation or strong practical necessity:

subject + tener + que + infinitive

• Tengo que trabajar. — I have to work.
• Tenemos que irnos. — We have to leave.
• ¿Tienes que estudiar hoy? — Do you have to study today?

Only tener changes for the subject; the second verb remains in the infinitive. In Tenemos que salir, tenemos agrees with “we,” while salir stays unchanged. The words tener que form one unit here: omitting que is incorrect.

Do not confuse tener que + infinitive with hay que + infinitive. Tengo que llamar means “I have to call,” naming the responsible person. Hay que llamar means “someone/people must call” or “it is necessary to call,” without naming a particular subject.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
Tengo las llaves en el bolso.	I have the keys in my bag.	Possession
¿Tienes un minuto?	Do you have a minute?	Informal singular question
Marta tiene dos hermanos.	Marta has two brothers.	Family relationship
Tenemos una mesa reservada.	We have a table reserved.	First-person plural
¿Tenéis sitio para dos?	Do you all have room for two?	Informal plural in Spain
Mis vecinos tienen un perro muy tranquilo.	My neighbors have a very calm dog.	Third-person plural
No tengo efectivo, pero tengo tarjeta.	I don’t have cash, but I have a card.	Negation and contrast
¿Cuántos años tienes?	How old are you?	Age, informal singular
Mi abuelo tiene ochenta y dos años.	My grandfather is eighty-two years old.	Age uses tener, not ser
Después del viaje, tenemos hambre y sueño.	After the trip, we are hungry and sleepy.	Two physical states
Cierra la ventana, por favor; tengo frío.	Close the window, please; I’m cold.	A person feels cold
Elena tiene miedo de volar.	Elena is afraid of flying.	tener miedo de + infinitive
Date prisa: tenemos que salir ya.	Hurry up: we have to leave now.	Personal obligation
No tienes que venir mañana.	You don’t have to come tomorrow.	Absence of necessity
Tienen razón: esta calle no lleva al centro.	They are right: this street doesn’t lead downtown.	Fixed expression

Common Mistakes

Using ser for age

• Wrong: Soy treinta años.
• Right: Tengo treinta años.
• Why: Spanish treats age as something a person “has.” Use tener + number + años, not ser.

Translating English “be” literally

• Wrong: Estoy hambre.
• Right: Tengo hambre.
• Why: Hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and several other states use tener + noun. Learn tener hambre, tener sed, and tener sueño as whole expressions.

Regularizing an irregular form

• Wrong: Yo teno tiempo or ella tene tiempo.
• Right: Yo tengo tiempo or ella tiene tiempo.
• Why: The present tense is irregular. Memorize the six forms in two useful groups: tengo; tienes/tiene/tienen; then tenemos/tenéis.

Dropping que in an obligation

• Wrong: Tenemos salir ahora.
• Right: Tenemos que salir ahora.
• Why: “Have to” is tener que + infinitive. The word que cannot be omitted.

Conjugating both verbs after tener que

• Wrong: Tengo que trabajo mañana.
• Right: Tengo que trabajar mañana.
• Why: Conjugate tener only. The action after que remains an infinitive—the basic form ending in -ar, -er, or -ir.

Misreading a negative obligation

• Potential misunderstanding: No tienes que hacerlo = “You must not do it.”
• Correct meaning: No tienes que hacerlo = “You don’t have to do it.”
• Why: This normally removes the necessity; it does not prohibit the action. For prohibition, Spanish often uses No debes hacerlo or a negative command such as No lo hagas.

Usage Notes

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns, so forms of tener need to be recognized quickly. Tiene can mean “he has,” “she has,” or formal “you have”; context identifies the subject. Tienen can mean “they have” or “you all have.”

The choice between plural “you” forms varies by region. In most of Spain, vosotros/vosotras tenéis is the usual informal plural, while ustedes tienen is formal. Across nearly all of Latin America, ustedes tienen serves as the normal plural “you” in both everyday and formal situations. Singular tú tienes is widespread; regions that use vos typically say vos tenés. Beginners can understand this form before deciding whether they need to produce it.

With basic states, avoid adding an English-style article: tener hambre, sed, frío, calor, sueño, miedo, razón, prisa. An article may appear when the noun is characterized or intensified—Tengo un miedo terrible (“I’m terribly afraid”)—but this is a more expressive structure, not the neutral form.

Tener miedo de can be followed by a noun or an infinitive: Tiene miedo de las arañas and Tiene miedo de conducir. Before a clause with a different stated subject, more advanced Spanish commonly uses tener miedo de que plus the subjunctive: Tengo miedo de que el tren llegue tarde (“I’m afraid the train will arrive late”).

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms and expressions you will meet later.

More useful expressions

Tener appears in many combinations whose natural English translation does not always contain “have”:

Expression	Meaning	Example
tener ganas de	to feel like / want to	Tengo ganas de viajar. — I feel like traveling.
tener cuidado	to be careful	Ten cuidado. — Be careful.
tener éxito	to be successful	El proyecto tuvo éxito. — The project was successful.
tener lugar	to take place	La reunión tendrá lugar el lunes. — The meeting will take place Monday.
tener en cuenta	to take into account	Ten en cuenta el precio. — Take the price into account.
tener que ver con	to have to do with	Eso no tiene que ver conmigo. — That has nothing to do with me.

Notice that tener que ver con does not express obligation, despite containing tener que. The whole phrase means “to have to do with.” Context and the following verb ver distinguish it from an obligation such as Tengo que ver al médico (“I have to see the doctor”).

Other tenses and moods

The past participle—one verb form used in compound tenses—is tenido: He tenido mucho trabajo esta semana (“I’ve had a lot of work this week”). Spanish uses haber, not tener, as the helping verb in the present perfect. Therefore he tenido means “I have had”; tengo tenido is not the standard modern construction for that meaning.

The simple past has the irregular stem tuv-: tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron. The future and conditional use tendr-: tendré (“I will have”), tendría (“I would have”). The present subjunctive—a mood used in certain wishes, reactions, doubts, and dependent clauses—begins tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan. These patterns are later study topics, but recognizing the stems makes unfamiliar forms easier to connect with tener.

The affirmative informal command is ten: Ten paciencia (“Be patient”). It is irregular and occurs frequently in ten cuidado. The formal command is tenga, as in Tenga cuidado.

Tener versus haber

Both verbs can correspond to English “have,” but their jobs differ. Tener describes possession and the expressions taught here: Tengo una pregunta. Haber acts as a helping verb in compound tenses: He preguntado (“I have asked”). Its impersonal form hay means “there is/there are”: Hay una pregunta en el examen. Compare:

• Tengo un libro en la mesa. — I have a book on the table.
• Hay un libro en la mesa. — There is a book on the table.
• He leído el libro. — I have read the book.

English uses “have” in all three areas, so this three-way contrast deserves deliberate practice.

Practice Tips

1. Build the forms around short questions and answers. Ask ¿Tienes…? and answer Sí, tengo… / No, no tengo… with objects, relatives, and things you carry. Then repeat with tiene, tenemos, and tienen.
2. Make expression pairs instead of word lists. Put Tengo hambre — I’m hungry, Tengo frío — I’m cold, and Tengo prisa — I’m in a hurry on cards. This trains the Spanish structure rather than an English word-for-word substitution.
3. Plan one day with obligations. Write five natural sentences beginning with Tengo que…, then change the subject: Tenemos que comprar comida, Ana tiene que llamar, Mis amigos tienen que salir. Check that only tener changes.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — helps you connect tengo, tienes, and the other forms to their subjects.
• Useful contrast: Hay (There Is/Are) — distinguishes personal possession from saying that something exists or is present.
• Later connection: Present Perfect — shows how haber + tenido expresses “have had.”