Present Indicative of Ter | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb ter (to have) is one of the most versatile words in Portuguese. It expresses possession, age, obligation, physical and emotional states, and serves as the auxiliary verb for all compound tenses. You will use ter in nearly every conversation, so mastering its present indicative forms early is essential.

Conjugation

Ter is irregular in the present indicative. The stem changes across persons, and the third person plural carries a distinctive written accent.

Person	Form	English
eu	tenho	I have
tu	tens	you have
ele / ela / você	tem	he/she has; you have
nós	temos	we have
(vós)	(tendes)	(you all have)
eles / elas / vocês	têm	they have; you all have

The vós form tendes appears in older texts and liturgical language but is not used in daily European Portuguese. Modern EP uses vocês with the third person plural form têm.

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Notice that the eu form tenho has an unpredictable nasal sound -- the nh is pronounced like the "ny" in "canyon." The remaining forms build on the stem ten-, which is easier to remember.

Têm vs tem -- the accent that matters

In speech, tem (he/she has) and têm (they have) sound identical. In writing, they are distinguished by the circumflex accent on têm. This is one of the most common spelling errors in Portuguese and is tested constantly in exams.

Singular	Plural
Ele tem um cão.	Eles têm um cão.
Ela tem razão.	Elas têm razão.
Você tem fome?	Vocês têm fome?

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A simple rule: if the subject is they or you all (eles, elas, vocês), write têm with a circumflex. If the subject is he, she, or you (singular), write tem without it. Always check: one person = tem, more than one = têm.

Possession

The most basic use of ter is to express what someone owns or has.

Tenho um carro novo.

I have a new car.

Tens irmãos?

Do you have siblings?

Nós temos uma casa em Sintra.

We have a house in Sintra.

Age

Portuguese uses ter -- not ser -- to express age. This is a common source of errors for English speakers, who are tempted to say "I am thirty" with ser.

Tenho trinta anos.

I'm thirty years old.

Quantos anos tens?

How old are you?

The literal meaning is "I have thirty years," and the word anos (years) is always required. Saying Tenho trinta without anos sounds incomplete.

Obligation: ter de / ter que + infinitive

To express obligation or necessity, Portuguese uses ter de or ter que followed by an infinitive. In European Portuguese, ter de is the traditionally preferred form, though ter que is widely used as well.

Tenho de estudar para o exame.

I have to study for the exam.

Tens que ir agora.

You have to go now.

Eles têm de trabalhar amanhã.

They have to work tomorrow.

Physical and emotional states

Where English says "I am hungry" or "I am afraid," Portuguese uses ter -- literally "I have hunger" or "I have fear." This pattern applies to a whole family of everyday states.

Portuguese	Literal meaning	English equivalent
Tenho fome.	I have hunger.	I'm hungry.
Tenho sede.	I have thirst.	I'm thirsty.
Tenho sono.	I have sleep.	I'm sleepy.
Tenho frio.	I have cold.	I'm cold.
Tenho calor.	I have heat.	I'm hot.
Tenho medo.	I have fear.	I'm afraid.
Tenho pressa.	I have hurry.	I'm in a hurry.

Tens frio? Queres o meu casaco?

Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?

Auxiliary verb: compound tenses

In modern Portuguese, ter has almost completely replaced haver as the auxiliary verb for compound tenses. To form the present perfect (or, more precisely, the pretérito perfeito composto), use the present indicative of ter + the past participle. This tense expresses an action that started in the past and continues or repeats up to the present.

Tenho falado muito com ela.

I've been speaking a lot with her.

Eles têm estudado todos os dias.

They've been studying every day.

Ter vs haver

In earlier Portuguese, haver served as the main auxiliary verb. Today, haver in that role is archaic or literary. Tenho feito (I have done/been doing) is standard; hei feito sounds like poetry or legal prose. Haver survives mainly as an impersonal existential verb: há means "there is" or "there are." For a full comparison, see Ter vs Haver Overview.

Common expressions with ter

Several everyday expressions are built around ter. These are worth memorizing as set phrases:

ter razão -- to be right (Tens razão. -- You're right.)
ter sorte -- to be lucky (Temos muita sorte. -- We're very lucky.)
ter saudades -- to miss someone or something (Tenho saudades de Portugal. -- I miss Portugal.)
ter a ver com -- to have to do with (Isso não tem nada a ver comigo. -- That has nothing to do with me.)
ter vontade de -- to feel like (Tenho vontade de ir à praia. -- I feel like going to the beach.)
ter cuidado -- to be careful (Tem cuidado! -- Be careful!)

Tenho saudades dos meus amigos.

I miss my friends.

The expression ter saudades is uniquely Portuguese -- the word saudade has no exact translation in English and captures a deep, bittersweet longing.

Common mistakes

1. Using ser for age. Saying Sou trinta anos is incorrect. Age always requires ter: Tenho trinta anos. Remember: Portuguese "has" years, it does not "be" years.

2. Using haver for possession. Haver does not mean "to have" in the possessive sense. Hei um carro is wrong. Only ter expresses possession: Tenho um carro.

3. Forgetting de or que in obligation. Saying Tenho estudar without the linking word is incorrect. You need Tenho *de estudar or Tenho **que estudar*.

4. Writing tem for the plural. When the subject is eles, elas, or vocês, the correct form is têm with a circumflex: Eles têm fome, not Eles tem fome. This is the single most common spelling mistake with this verb.

What comes next

With ter mastered, explore how it compares with haver in Ter vs Haver Overview and how it works as an auxiliary in Ter as Auxiliary. For the other essential irregular verbs in the present tense, see Present Indicative of Ser and Present Indicative of Estar.