Ter and Haver: Two Verbs for 'To Have' | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

Portuguese has two verbs that share the translation "to have" — ter and haver — but they divide the work between them in a way that no other Romance language does quite the same. Ter is the modern workhorse: it handles possession, obligation, auxiliary use, physical states, and dozens of everyday expressions. Haver is a specialized verb, mostly reduced to a single form (há) that covers existence ("there is / are"), time expressions ("ago," "for"), and a handful of literary or set-phrase uses. A Portuguese speaker says tenho um carro (I have a car) and há trânsito (there's traffic) without feeling any strangeness — the division of labour is as automatic as English speakers distinguishing between "have" and "there is."

This page is the high-level map. Each of the specific uses has its own dedicated page; use this overview as the compass and follow the links for detail.

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Spanish speakers beware — the division of labour is different. In Spanish, haber is both the auxiliary for compound tenses (he hablado) and the existential (hay pan). Tener covers only possession. Portuguese reassigns: ter took over the auxiliary role completely (tenho falado), leaving haver with only existence, time, and a few set phrases. Portuguese is, in this sense, cleaner: ter for everything involving a subject, haver for the impersonal residue.

The two verbs at a glance

Verb	Core role	Typical uses	Example
ter	the modern all-purpose "have"	possession; obligation; auxiliary; states (fome, sede, sono); age; family; body parts; time; fixed expressions	Tenho um carro. (I have a car.)
haver	specialized impersonal	existence ("there is / are"); time ("ago," "for"); mild obligation (haver de); literary auxiliary	Há um problema. (There's a problem.)

A rough rule of thumb: if the sentence has a subject who "has" something, use ter. If the sentence is impersonal — reporting the existence of something or the passage of time — use haver.

Ter — the workhorse

Ter does six big jobs. Each one deserves its own page; here are the headlines.

1. Possession

This is the core meaning — someone or something has something else.

Tenho um apartamento em Lisboa e uma casa no campo.

I have an apartment in Lisbon and a house in the countryside.

Eles têm dois filhos e três cães.

They have two children and three dogs.

Não tenho tempo para isso agora.

I don't have time for that right now.

See Ter for Possession for the full treatment, including how ter covers family relationships, body parts, and time.

2. Obligation: ter de / ter que + infinitive

Portuguese has no single word for English "must." Instead, it uses ter de or ter que + infinitive. Both work; ter de is the traditional choice in EP for careful writing, but ter que is ubiquitous in speech.

Tenho de ir ao médico amanhã — não posso adiar mais.

I have to go to the doctor tomorrow — I can't put it off any longer.

Tens que estudar mais se queres passar no exame.

You have to study more if you want to pass the exam.

Ela teve de trabalhar no fim de semana.

She had to work over the weekend.

For the register nuances between de and que, plus comparison with dever and precisar de, see Ter de / Ter que for Obligation.

3. Auxiliary verb for compound tenses

This is the role that Spanish reserves for haber. In Portuguese, ter owns it.

Tenho estudado português todos os dias.

I've been studying Portuguese every day. (present perfect compound)

Já tinha saído quando ela chegou.

I had already left when she arrived. (pluperfect)

Quando tiver acabado, liga-me.

When I've finished, call me. (future subjunctive compound)

The full mechanics — how ter conjugates, how the past participle stays invariant, how each compound tense is built — are in Ter as Auxiliary Verb.

4. Physical and emotional states — ter + noun

This is the pattern English speakers stumble over most, because English uses be + adjective (I am hungry) where Portuguese uses have + noun (tenho fome — literally "I have hunger").

Portuguese	Literal	English
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 scared.
Tenho pressa.	I have haste.	I'm in a hurry.
Tenho saudades.	I have longing.	I miss (someone).
Tenho razão.	I have reason.	I'm right.
Tenho sorte.	I have luck.	I'm lucky.
Tenho cuidado.	I have care.	I'm careful.

Os miúdos têm fome — são quase oito da noite.

The kids are hungry — it's almost eight in the evening.

Tens razão, desculpa.

You're right, I'm sorry.

These patterns are covered in full in Ter for Possession. The pattern estar com + noun is an alternative covered in Estar for States.

5. Age

In Portuguese, you have years rather than being years old. Always ter, never ser.

Quantos anos tens? — Tenho vinte e oito.

How old are you? — I'm twenty-eight.

A minha filha tem três meses, e o meu filho tem cinco anos.

My daughter is three months old, and my son is five years old.

6. Fixed expressions

A rich vocabulary of everyday phrases is built on ter:

ter razão — to be right
ter sorte — to be lucky
ter cuidado — to be careful
ter vontade de — to feel like
ter a ver com — to have to do with
ter saudades de — to miss
ter em conta — to take into account
ter pena (de) — to feel sorry (for)
ter remédio — to be fixable

Tenho pena de não te poder ajudar desta vez.

I'm sorry I can't help you this time.

Isso não tem nada a ver comigo.

That has nothing to do with me.

Haver — the specialized impersonal

Haver has been progressively squeezed out of Portuguese over the centuries. Once a full-bodied verb covering possession and auxiliary use, today it lives in a few specialized slots, mostly as the impersonal third person singular há.

1. Existential há — "there is / there are"

This is the workhorse use of haver. It never changes form, regardless of what number it is introducing.

Há um café muito bom ao virar da esquina.

There's a really good café around the corner.

Há muitas pessoas à espera de resposta.

There are many people waiting for an answer.

Não há problema, podes ficar o tempo que precisares.

No problem, you can stay as long as you need.

Ainda há pão? — Há, sim. Está no armário.

Is there still bread? — Yes, there is. It's in the cupboard.

Há is strictly singular, even when a plural noun follows. Writing hão muitas pessoas is a serious error. For the full paradigm across tenses (havia, houve, haverá), see Haver as Existential.

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Brazilian Portuguese blurs this line. In BP, tem ("has" from ter) is widely used impersonally to mean "there is": Tem muita gente aqui for "There's a lot of people here." In EP, this is unacceptable — you must say Há muita gente aqui. Getting this distinction right is one of the fastest markers of whether a speaker is using EP or BP.

2. Time expressions — ago and for

Paired with a time phrase, há means "ago" (with a past verb) or "for / since" (with a present or present perfect verb).

Cheguei a Lisboa há dois anos.

I arrived in Lisbon two years ago.

Estudo português há seis meses.

I've been studying Portuguese for six months.

Não o vejo há séculos.

I haven't seen him in ages. (literally 'for centuries')

Há quanto tempo estás à espera? — Há cerca de vinte minutos.

How long have you been waiting? — About twenty minutes.

The tense of the main verb resolves the interpretation: past tense → "ago"; present tense describing an ongoing situation → "for / since." See Há for Time Expressions.

3. Mild obligation — haver de + infinitive

One of the most traditional Portuguese constructions: haver de + infinitive expresses a mild obligation, determination, or future certainty. It survives in daily speech but carries a slightly formal or emphatic register.

Hei de voltar a visitar-te.

I'll definitely come to visit you again.

Havemos de conseguir, com tempo.

We'll manage, in time.

Há de ser assim, não vale a pena discutir.

That's how it has to be, there's no point in arguing.

This is one of the few contexts where the full conjugation of haver (hei, hás, há, havemos, hão) is still productive. See Haver de + Infinitive for the full treatment.

4. Literary auxiliary

In older literature, legal prose, and very formal writing, haver still appears as the auxiliary for compound tenses — especially the pluperfect. This is the construction that ter has almost completely taken over in modern Portuguese.

Se houvera falado antes, teria evitado o mal-entendido.

Had he spoken up earlier, he would have avoided the misunderstanding. (literary)

Os que houverem concluído o curso receberão o diploma no final do mês.

Those who have completed the course will receive their diploma at the end of the month. (formal bureaucratic)

Recognize this construction when you read it; do not produce it in speech. For when and where it survives, see Haver as Auxiliary.

The full division of labour

Function	Verb	Example
Possession	ter	Tenho um carro.
Obligation (+ infinitive)	ter de / ter que	Tenho de ir.
Mild obligation / resolve	haver de	Hei de ir.
Auxiliary (modern compound tenses)	ter	Tenho falado.
Auxiliary (literary, legal)	haver	Houvera falado.
Existence ("there is / are")	há (haver)	Há um problema.
Time "ago"	há (haver)	Cheguei há dois dias.
Time "for / since"	há (haver)	Moro aqui há cinco anos.
Age	ter	Tenho trinta anos.
Physical state (fome, sede, sono, frio, calor, medo)	ter (or estar com)	Tenho fome.
Family relationships	ter	Tenho duas irmãs.
Physical traits (hair colour, etc.)	ter	Ela tem olhos verdes.

For Spanish speakers — the big differences

Spanish has haber and tener. Portuguese has haver and ter. The cognate pairs are exact — but the division of labour is not.

Auxiliary role. Spanish uses haber as the auxiliary for all compound tenses (he hablado, había hablado, habré hablado). Portuguese uses ter — tenho falado, tinha falado, terei falado. The cognate construction hei falado exists but is archaic. This is the single biggest shift for Spanish speakers to absorb.
Existence. In Spanish, hay (from haber) is the existential. In Portuguese, há (also from haver) plays the same role — so this part transfers directly. However, the duration sense ("for / since") is different: Spanish uses hace (hace dos años), Portuguese uses há (há dois anos).
Obligation. Spanish tener que is cognate with Portuguese ter que and works the same way. Portuguese additionally has ter de, which is the traditional EP preference. Brazilian Portuguese aligns with Spanish more closely by preferring ter que.
States. Both languages use tener/ter
- noun for hunger, thirst, age, and so on. This pattern transfers almost transparently between the two.

Spanish: He hablado con él. Portuguese: Tenho falado com ele.

I've been speaking with him. (note: ter, not haver)

Spanish: Hace dos años que vivo aquí. Portuguese: Moro aqui há dois anos.

I've lived here for two years.

For English speakers — the mental model

English speakers need to build three new habits.

Have + noun for states. I'm hungry is not estou com fome first but tenho fome or estou com fome. I'm sleepy is tenho sono. I'm right is tenho razão. The ter + noun pattern is everywhere.
"There is / there are" is a single word. Not ele tem or it has but há. And it is always singular: há três problemas, never hão três problemas.
Age is had, not been. I am thirty is not sou trinta but tenho trinta anos. Literal translation: "I have thirty years." The word anos is obligatory.

❌ Sou com fome.

Incorrect word-for-word translation of 'I am hungry.'

✅ Tenho fome.

I'm hungry.

✅ Estou com fome.

I'm hungry (right now). (also correct; see Estar for States)

Common mistakes

❌ Hei um irmão.

Incorrect — possession is never haver in modern Portuguese.

✅ Tenho um irmão.

I have a brother.

Haver has no possessive use. Even though Spanish tiene un hermano uses tener (like Portuguese ter), some learners overcorrect toward haver when they remember that haver once covered more ground. In modern Portuguese, possession is exclusively ter.

❌ Hão muitas pessoas aqui.

Incorrect — 'há' is impersonal and never pluralizes.

✅ Há muitas pessoas aqui.

There are a lot of people here.

Há stays singular no matter what follows. This is a prescriptive rule, actively policed — writing hão in place of há is considered a serious error.

❌ Tem muita gente na fila.

Brazilian — in European Portuguese, impersonal existence uses há, not tem.

✅ Há muita gente na fila.

There's a lot of people in the queue.

In Portugal, tem as an existential marks you out as a Brazilian or as a learner of BP. Use há for "there is / are."

❌ Sou trinta anos.

Incorrect — age takes ter, not ser.

✅ Tenho trinta anos.

I'm thirty years old.

❌ Hei falado com o professor.

Archaic — in modern EP, the auxiliary for compound tenses is ter.

✅ Tenho falado com o professor.

I've been speaking with the teacher.

Hei falado, hás falado, há falado can be read but should not be produced. Modern compound tenses use tenho, tens, tem.

❌ Há muito tempo à muitos anos.

Confusion of 'há' (time) and 'à' (preposition).

✅ Há muito tempo — há muitos anos que não o vejo.

It's been a long time — it's been many years since I've seen him.

Há (verb, "there is / ago") and à (preposition + article, "to the / at the") are pronounced identically but mean completely different things. Confusing them is one of the most common spelling errors even among native speakers.

❌ Moro aqui por três anos.

Spanglish — Portuguese does not use 'por' for the ongoing duration.

✅ Moro aqui há três anos.

I've lived here for three years.

For an ongoing situation that began X time ago, Portuguese uses há + time phrase + present tense verb. Not por, not desde (though desde works with a specific date).

Key takeaways

Portuguese splits "to have" between ter (modern, general-purpose) and haver (specialized, impersonal).
Ter handles: possession, obligation (ter de / que), auxiliary for compound tenses (tenho falado), age, family, body parts, physical states (tenho fome, sede, frio), and fixed expressions (ter razão, ter sorte, ter cuidado).
Haver has been reduced to a specialist. Its main uses are: the impersonal existential há ("there is / are"), the time marker há ("ago" / "for / since"), the mild obligation haver de
- infinitive, and the literary auxiliary houvera / houvesse
  - participle.
Há is strictly singular and impersonal: há um carro, há muitos carros — never hão.
Spanish speakers should note the major shift: Portuguese uses ter (not haver) as the compound-tense auxiliary, where Spanish uses haber.
English speakers should note three new habits: (1) many "I am X" states become "I have X" — tenho fome; (2) "there is / are" is a single word, há; (3) age is had, not been — tenho trinta anos.
The BP / EP boundary here is sharp: Brazilians often say tem for "there is," but in European Portuguese, always use há.
Each specific use has its own page: Ter for Possession, Ter as Auxiliary, Ter de / Ter que, Haver as Existential, Há for Time, Haver as Auxiliary, and the synthesis Ter vs Haver: Complete Comparison.