Tener

Tener means "to have", but it is also used to form certain expressions ("to have to do something"), and certain conditions ("to be hungry, thirsty, hot," etc.).

It has both an irregular spelling in the yo form and a stem-changing verb:

Tener	yo	Tú	Él, ella, usted	nosotros	ellos, ellas, Uds.
	tengo	tienes	tiene	tenemos	tienen

Examples of Tener

Tengo tres libros	I have three books
Tienes una familia muy unida	You have a very close-knit family.
Tenemos la clase de música a las nueve	We have music class at nine o'clock.
Jenny y Chika tienen unas fotos de Leonardo DiCaprio	Jenny y Chika have some photos of Leonardo DiCaprio.

Tener expressions

In English we say that we are hungry or we are hot, using a form of "to Be". In Spanish, if you used a form of Ser with one of these descriptions, you would be saying something entirely different.

For example, to say "I am hot", we use Tener [not Ser ] : Tengo calor [literally, "I have heat"]

If you made the mistake of saying *Yo soy calor , you would be saying something like, "I am the incarnation of the abstract concept of Heat." This is probably not what you intended to say unless you were in a play involving the elements. So you might want to review the Tener phrases and practice them until it seems natural to say them.

Some other Tener expressions include:

Tener calor	to be hot
Tener cuidado	to be careful
Tener éxito	to be successful
Tener frío	to be cold
Tener ganas de	to feel like..., to have the desire to...
Tener hambre	to be hungry
Tener interés	to be interested
Tener miedo	to be afraid
Tener sed	to be thirsty
Tener sueño	to be sleepy
Tener prisa	to be in a hurry
Tener razón	to be right (correct)
No tener razón	to be wrong

Another way we use Tener is to express that we "have to" do something. The expression is constructed with Tener + que + infinitive:

Tengo que estudiar esta mañana	I have to study this morning.
Tienes que practicar tenis hoy	You have to practice tenis today.
Tenemos que hablar con la profesora	We have to speak with the professor.
Tienen que ir al hospital	They have to go to the hospital.
Ustedes tienen que leer el drama	You have to read the play.

And of course, we use Tener to express Age:

Tengo veintiún años	I'm twenty-one (years old).
Tiene quince años	He's fifteen.
Nosotros dos tenemos veinticinco años	We're both twenty five years old.

Don't forget we must use the whole phrase - don't drop the word años . Remember there is a SERIOUS difference between the word año and ano .

Practice with Tener expressions

Examples and practice on the Web!

Practice conjugating Tener (and similar verb Venir) with a self-quiz:
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