Ter (to Have) in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese ter usually means “to have.” Its present-tense forms are irregular: tenho, tens, tem, temos, tendes, têm. Use it for possession (Tenho um carro), age (Tenho trinta anos), necessity (Temos de ir), and many states that English expresses with “be,” such as ter fome (“to be hungry”).

Overview

Ter is one of the most useful verbs in Portuguese. You need it to say what someone has, how old they are, what they need to do, and how they feel in many everyday situations. It is introduced at A1, but it remains important at every level because it also helps form compound tenses.

English gives learners a useful starting point because ter often corresponds directly to “have”: Ela tem dois irmãos means “She has two siblings.” The match is not complete, however. Portuguese uses ter, not ser or estar (“to be”), in expressions such as ter fome and ter medo. It also uses ter anos to state age.

Ter is irregular, which means its forms do not follow the ordinary pattern of verbs ending in -er. The forms therefore need to be learned as a set. Subject pronouns are often omitted when the context and verb form make the subject clear: Tenho tempo naturally means “I have time.”

How It Works

Present-tense forms

The subject is the person or thing that the sentence is about. Each subject selects a particular form of ter.

Person	Subject pronoun	Present of ter	Typical English meaning
First-person singular	eu	tenho	I have
Second-person singular	tu	tens	you have
Third-person singular	ele, ela, você	tem	he/she has; you have
First-person plural	nós	temos	we have
Second-person plural	vós	tendes	you all have
Third-person plural	eles, elas, vocês	têm	they have; you all have

Two spelling details matter:

• tem is singular: Ela tem razão.
• têm is plural and has a circumflex: Elas têm razão. The accent does not create a completely different vowel in every accent, but it distinguishes the forms in writing.

The vós form tendes is grammatically correct, but it is uncommon in ordinary modern conversation. Most speakers use vocês têm for plural “you.” You may still meet vós in religious language, older literature, or some regional usage.

Pronouns can be omitted

Portuguese often leaves out a subject pronoun when the verb or context identifies the subject:

• Tenho uma pergunta. — “I have a question.”
• Temos pouco tempo. — “We have little time.”
• Têm filhos? — “Do they/you all have children?” The intended subject comes from context.

With tem, an explicit subject is often useful because the same form goes with ele, ela, and você. With têm, context must distinguish eles, elas, and vocês.

Possession and relationships

For possession, availability, and personal relationships, ter works much like English “have”:

• Tenho uma bicicleta. — “I have a bicycle.”
• O apartamento tem duas varandas. — “The apartment has two balconies.”
• Ela tem muitos amigos. — “She has many friends.”
• Você tem tempo agora? — “Do you have time now?”

Portuguese normally makes questions through intonation or a question word rather than an equivalent of English “do.” Compare Você tem café (“You have coffee”) with Você tem café? (“Do you have coffee?”). Do not add another verb to build the question.

Saying someone’s age

Portuguese treats age as something a person “has”:

subject + ter + number + ano(s)

• Tenho vinte anos. — “I am twenty years old.”
• A criança tem um ano. — “The child is one year old.”
• Quantos anos tens? — “How old are you?”

Use singular ano with one and plural anos with other numbers. In normal conversation, Tenho vinte may be enough when everyone knows that age is the topic, but Tenho vinte anos is the complete beginner pattern.

Physical feelings and mental states

Many common Portuguese expressions use ter + noun. A noun is a word naming a person, thing, feeling, or idea. English often uses “be + adjective” for the same meaning.

Portuguese expression	Natural English equivalent
ter fome	to be hungry
ter sede	to be thirsty
ter sono	to be sleepy
ter frio	to be cold
ter calor	to be hot
ter medo (de)	to be afraid (of)
ter pressa	to be in a hurry
ter razão	to be right
ter sorte	to be lucky
ter cuidado	to be careful
ter vergonha (de)	to be ashamed/embarrassed (about)
ter vontade de	to feel like; to want to

These expressions normally have no indefinite article: say Tenho fome, not Tenho uma fome, for the neutral meaning “I’m hungry.” Articles and modifiers can appear when the noun is described or intensified, as in Tenho uma fome enorme (“I’m extremely hungry”).

Obligation: ter de and ter que

Use ter de + infinitive or ter que + infinitive to express necessity. An infinitive is the basic verb form, such as ir (“to go”) or trabalhar (“to work”).

• Tenho de estudar. — “I have to study.”
• Temos que sair agora. — “We have to leave now.”

Both patterns occur. Ter de is especially established and frequent in European Portuguese. Ter que is extremely common in Brazilian Portuguese and is also heard elsewhere. Register and regional preference vary, so learning to understand both is more useful than treating one as universally wrong.

To say that something is unnecessary, place não before ter:

• Não tens de pagar hoje. — “You don’t have to pay today.”

This means there is no obligation. It does not mean “You must not pay,” which would prohibit the action.

Negatives and questions

Put não directly before the conjugated verb:

• Não tenho carro. — “I don’t have a car.”
• Eles não têm medo. — “They aren’t afraid.”

For yes/no questions, the word order can remain unchanged:

• Tens irmãos? — “Do you have siblings?”
• Vocês têm reserva? — “Do you have a reservation?”

Question words come before the clause:

• Quantos filhos ela tem? — “How many children does she have?”
• Por que tens pressa? — “Why are you in a hurry?”

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Tenho fome.	I’m hungry.	Physical state expressed with ter
Quantos anos tens?	How old are you?	Informal singular tu
A minha irmã tem dezoito anos.	My sister is eighteen years old.	Age uses ter
Você tem um minuto?	Do you have a minute?	Você takes third-person tem
O hotel tem piscina.	The hotel has a pool.	A place possessing a feature
Não temos dinheiro suficiente.	We don’t have enough money.	Negative before temos
Eles têm razão.	They are right.	Plural têm has a circumflex
Tens medo de cães?	Are you afraid of dogs?	ter medo de
Estou cansada e tenho sono.	I’m tired and sleepy.	Contrast between estar and ter
Temos de ir.	We have to go.	Obligation with ter de
Eu tenho que trabalhar amanhã.	I have to work tomorrow.	Common obligation pattern, especially in Brazil
Vocês têm reserva para esta noite?	Do you have a reservation for tonight?	Vocês takes plural têm
Ela tem muita vontade de viajar.	She really feels like travelling.	ter vontade de + infinitive
Tenha cuidado ao atravessar a rua.	Be careful when crossing the street.	A command form introduced later

Common Mistakes

Using “to be” for age

• Wrong: Sou vinte anos.
• Right: Tenho vinte anos.
• Why: Portuguese expresses age with ter, literally “to have years.” English “I am twenty” cannot be translated word for word.

Using estar with hunger or thirst

• Wrong: Estou fome.
• Right: Tenho fome.
• Why: Fome is a noun (“hunger”), so the standard expression uses ter. Likewise, say ter sede, ter sono, and ter medo.

Mixing up tem and têm

• Wrong: Eles tem razão.
• Right: Eles têm razão.
• Why: Tem is singular; têm is plural. The circumflex is required in standard spelling.

Matching você with tens

• Wrong: Você tens tempo?
• Right: Você tem tempo?
• Why: Although você addresses one person as “you,” it takes the third-person verb form. Tu takes tens in the standard paradigm.

Building questions with an extra verb

• Wrong: Fazes tu ter irmãos?
• Right: Tens irmãos? / Você tem irmãos?
• Why: Portuguese does not use an equivalent of English auxiliary “do” in ordinary present-tense questions. The verb form and intonation are enough.

Translating English present perfect automatically

• Potentially wrong: Tenho perdido as chaves ontem.
• Right: Perdi as chaves ontem.
• Why: Portuguese ter + past participle does not always match English “have + past participle.” A completed event at a definite past time normally uses the simple past: perdi (“I lost”).

Usage Notes

Forms of address vary across the Portuguese-speaking world. In much of Portugal, tu tens is the normal informal singular pattern; speakers may use a person’s name or title with tem in more formal interaction. In Brazil, você tem is widespread, while tu is common in several regions. Informal Brazilian speech may combine tu with a third-person form, such as tu tem, but learners should use the standard pairing tu tens in careful speech and writing unless deliberately following a local variety.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, a gente tem commonly means “we have.” Although a gente refers to more than one person, it is grammatically singular and therefore takes tem: A gente tem tempo (“We have time”). Nós temos remains standard everywhere and is especially useful in writing and more formal contexts.

Brazilian conversation also sometimes uses tem with the meaning “there is/there are”: Tem muita gente aqui. This is natural in informal Brazilian speech, but há or existe/existem is generally preferred in formal writing. Possessive ter still agrees with its subject; existential tem in this colloquial use is impersonal.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Ter as an auxiliary verb

An auxiliary verb is a helping verb used with another verb. Portuguese combines a form of ter with a past participle (a form such as falado, comido, or feito) to build compound tenses:

• Tenho estudado muito. — “I have been studying a lot.”
• Ela tinha saído quando liguei. — “She had left when I called.”
• Eles terão chegado amanhã de manhã. — “They will have arrived by tomorrow morning.”

In modern Portuguese, the participle after ter normally stays unchanged: Ela tem escrito muitas cartas, not escritas in this construction.

The Portuguese present perfect ter + participle often describes an action repeated or continuing up to the present: Tenho lido muito ultimamente means “I’ve been reading a lot lately.” English also uses its present perfect for a single completed experience, but Portuguese often chooses the simple past there: Já visitei o Porto (“I have visited Porto / I’ve been to Porto”). The two tense systems overlap, but they are not interchangeable word for word.

Other forms worth recognising

Form	Value	Example
tive, tiveste, teve, tivemos, tiveram	completed past	Tive uma reunião ontem. — “I had a meeting yesterday.”
tinha, tinhas, tinha, tínhamos, tinham	ongoing/habitual past or “had” as auxiliary	Quando era criança, tinha medo do escuro. — “When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark.”
terei, terás, terá, teremos, terão	future	Teremos mais tempo amanhã. — “We’ll have more time tomorrow.”
tenha, tenhas, tenha, tenhamos, tenham	present subjunctive or some commands	Espero que tenhas razão. — “I hope you’re right.”

The subjunctive is a set of verb forms often used for wishes, doubt, reactions, or situations that are not presented as simple facts. It belongs to later study; for now, simply recognise tenha in polite instructions such as Tenha cuidado.

Fixed expressions and meaning shifts

Ter appears in many useful combinations whose meaning is larger than the individual words:

• ter a ver com — to have to do with: Isso não tem nada a ver comigo.
• ter lugar — to take place: A reunião terá lugar na sexta-feira.
• ter em conta — to take into account (especially European Portuguese)
• ter saudades de — to miss someone or something: Tenho saudades de casa.
• ter por hábito — to have the habit of: Ele tem por hábito caminhar cedo.

Learn these as complete phrases rather than trying to derive every meaning from English “have.”

Practice Tips

1. Build a six-form drill. Say tenho, tens, tem, temos, tendes, têm aloud, then make one short sentence with each form. Mark tendes as a recognition form if it is not relevant to the variety you are learning.
2. Sort phrases by English meaning. Make three groups: direct “have” (ter um carro), English “be” (ter fome, ter razão), and obligation (ter de/que estudar). This prevents word-for-word translation habits.
3. Practise real questions. Ask and answer Quantos anos tens/tem?, Tens/Tem irmãos?, and Tens/Tem tempo hoje? Choose either tu or você consistently, then practise the other variety separately.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — learn why tu tens, você tem, and vocês têm use different forms.
• Next step: Há (there is/are) — contrast possession with the impersonal expression used to say that something exists.