Ter (To Have) — Full Conjugation

Ter means to have — and in Portuguese, that one verb does an enormous amount of work. It expresses possession (tenho um carro), age (tenho 25 anos), physical and emotional states (tenho fome, tenho medo, tenho frio), obligation (tenho de ir, tenho que trabalhar), and it is the workhorse auxiliary for every compound tense in the language (tenho feito, tinha dito, terei chegado). If you open a book of European Portuguese prose, you will find ter on almost every page, in one role or another.

Ter is highly irregular — it descends from Latin tenēre but has been reshaped so thoroughly that you need to memorize almost every tense separately. The good news is that once you know ter, you also know the basic shape of vir (the two have strongly parallel irregular preterites: vim / vieste / veio, tive / tiveste / teve) and the pattern of obter, conter, manter, reter, entreter and other derivatives of ter, which all inflect the same way.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The 3rd-plural form têm carries an obligatory circumflex to distinguish it from the 3rd-singular tem. In older orthography you will sometimes see tens and têm spelled téns or tèm — both are incorrect in modern spelling.

The nh in tenho is a single phonemic consonant, pronounced roughly like the ny of English canyon. Do not pronounce it as two separate sounds.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Note the accent on tínhamos and tínheis: the first i is stressed, and the accent marks that stress on the antepenultimate syllable.

Because ter is the auxiliary for compound tenses, its imperfect forms are also how you build the everyday pluperfect: tinha feito, tinhas visto, tínhamos chegado = I had done, you had seen, we had arrived.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Ter belongs to the so-called strong preterites — a group of irregular verbs with stressed stems in the 1sg and 3sg (no ending stress), including estar, ser / ir, fazer, dizer, poder, querer, saber, trazer, and the derivatives of ter (obter, conter, etc.).

Notice: the stem is tive- everywhere except in the 3sg, where it is teve. This is a classic strong-preterite feature.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

Literary; in speech, the compound pluperfect tinha tido is standard. Note the accent on tivéramos and tivéreis.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Yes, the compound pluperfect of ter itself is tinha tido — ter as auxiliary plus ter as participle.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Action recurring or continuing up to now. Tenho tido muito trabalho ultimamente = I have been having a lot of work lately.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

The forms terei, terás, terá etc. double as the future auxiliaries in future perfect constructions: Terei acabado até sexta = I will have finished by Friday.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Built from the eu form tenho — drop the -o, add subjunctive endings. This is where the -nh- of tenho reappears in every form.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Built from the -ram of the preterite (tiveram → tivesse).

These tivesse forms are also the building blocks of the pluperfect subjunctive (tivesse tido, tivesse feito, tivesse visto...), used after se for contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

These forms are ubiquitous as auxiliaries in the future-perfect subjunctive: Quando tiveres acabado, avisa-me = When you have finished, let me know.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

The tu imperative tem is drawn from the present indicative third-singular. Common in fixed exhortations: Tem calma! (Calm down!), Tem cuidado! (Be careful!), Tem paciência! (Be patient!).

Negative:

Common: Não tenhas medo! (Don't be afraid!), Não tenhas pressa. (Don't rush.).

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage patterns

Ter covers far more ground than English have. The main patterns:

• Possession: Tenho três filhos. (I have three children.) Tens o meu telemóvel? (Do you have my phone?)
• Age: Always ter, never ser. Tenho trinta anos. (I am thirty years old.) Que idade tens? (How old are you?)
• Physical/emotional states: Portuguese uses ter + noun where English uses to be + adjective. Tenho fome = I am hungry; tenho sede = I am thirsty; tenho frio = I am cold; tenho calor = I am hot; tenho medo = I am afraid; tenho sono = I am sleepy; tenho razão = I am right; tenho pressa = I am in a hurry.
• Obligation: ter de + infinitive (strongly obligatory, "have to") or ter que + infinitive (common in speech, originally more "there is something to..."). Many speakers now use them interchangeably; ter de is preferred in formal writing. Tenho de ir. / Tenho que ir. (I have to go.)
• Auxiliary for compound tenses: ter + past participle. Tenho feito muito exercício. (I have been doing a lot of exercise.) Tinha visto esse filme antes. (I had seen that film before.) Quando tiver acabado, digo-te. (When I've finished, I'll tell you.)
• ter saudades de + noun/infinitive: to miss (someone/something). Tenho saudades de ti. (I miss you.) Temos saudades de comer bacalhau. (We miss eating codfish.)
• Tem + noun (impersonal "there is / there are"): this usage (e.g., tem muita gente) is Brazilian — in European Portuguese you say há muita gente (from haver). Do not transfer BP tem into EP speech.

Ter de vs ter que

Traditional grammar distinguished:

• ter de + infinitive: obligation (I must/have to).
• ter que + infinitive: availability or resource ("to have something to..."). Tenho muito que fazer. (I have a lot to do.)

In modern usage, both are widely used with the obligation meaning, and many native speakers use them interchangeably. Ter de is preferred in careful writing and in formal registers; ter que is extremely common in speech. Both are grammatically acceptable. (See ter de / que + infinitive.)

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Ter is one of the two most frequent verbs in Portuguese (along with ser) and is highly irregular. Learn it paradigm by paradigm.
• The 3rd-singular is tem (no accent) and the 3rd-plural is têm (with obligatory circumflex). This distinction is not optional.
• Age, hunger, thirst, fear, cold, heat, sleepiness, hurry, being right — all use ter + noun in Portuguese, not ser + adjective as in English. Tenho fome, not sou fome or estou fome.
• Ter de / ter que + infinitive = "have to, must." Ter de is preferred in careful writing; both are common in speech.
• Ter is the auxiliary for all compound tenses: tenho feito, tinha dito, terei chegado, tivesse sabido. In modern EP, haver is no longer used in this role except in archaic or literary contexts.
• The preterite stem is tive- (strong preterite), except in the 3rd-singular teve. This stem reappears in the imperfect subjunctive (tivesse) and future subjunctive (tiver).
• The tu imperative is tem (tem calma, tem cuidado) — this form is drawn from the indicative. The negative switches to the subjunctive: não tenhas.