Portuguese has two verbs that both descend from Latin verbs meaning something like "have": ter (from tenēre, "to hold") and haver (from habēre, "to have"). Spanish kept haber for almost everything and added tener as a newcomer for possession. Portuguese went in a different direction, handing most of the old habēre jobs over to ter, and shrinking haver down to a small set of specialized, mostly impersonal tasks. The result is a clean but counterintuitive division of labour that trips up almost every learner — especially those coming from Spanish. This page is the complete map.
The one-sentence rule
Ter is the general-purpose "have" verb. Haver is the specialist verb for a handful of impersonal and formal jobs.
If you have no idea which to use, say ter. You will be right far more often than wrong. The mistakes happen in the small set of cases where haver is the only correct choice.
Possession — always ter
Portuguese expresses all ordinary possession with ter. Never haver. This is the single most basic rule, and the place where Spanish speakers reach for haber out of habit and produce something nobody says.
Tenho um carro novo.
I have a new car.
Tens irmãos?
Do you have siblings?
Eles têm uma casa no Algarve.
They have a house in the Algarve.
A Marta tem muito talento para a música.
Marta has a lot of musical talent.
Haver never means "to possess" in modern Portuguese. Hei um carro is not a sentence. In medieval and early modern Portuguese, haver did cover possession — hei um cavalo was ordinary speech in the thirteenth century — but by the classical period ter had taken the territory, and the modern language does not tolerate haver in this role at all.
Age — always ter
Portuguese expresses age with ter, as does Spanish tener, as does Italian avere, as does French avoir. The logic is "to have X years." English, uniquely among major Western European languages, uses "to be" instead. Portuguese learners coming from English need to adjust to the ter pattern; Spanish speakers already have it.
Tenho trinta anos.
I am thirty years old. (literally: I have thirty years.)
Quantos anos tens?
How old are you? (literally: how many years do you have?)
Haver never expresses age. Há trinta anos means "thirty years ago" — a completely different construction (see below).
Compound tenses — ter in speech, haver in literary register
Every compound tense in modern European Portuguese uses ter + past participle. Haver + past participle is grammatically possible but literary or archaic.
Tenho pensado muito nisso ultimamente.
I've been thinking about that a lot lately. (normal, everyday)
Quando cheguei, eles já tinham saído.
When I arrived, they had already left. (normal, everyday)
Se tivesse sabido, teria ligado.
If I had known, I would have called. (normal, everyday)
The corresponding haver versions — hei pensado, haviam saído, houvesse sabido — exist but belong to a careful literary register. For the full treatment, see Haver as Auxiliary.
Obligation — ter de / ter que normal, haver de specialized
The everyday way to say "have to" or "must" in Portuguese is ter de + infinitive (in Brazil and increasingly in Portugal, also ter que). Haver de exists but means something different — more "shall" or "am determined to" than "must."
Tenho de estudar para o exame de amanhã.
I have to study for tomorrow's exam.
Tens que me contar tudo o que aconteceu.
You have to tell me everything that happened.
Temos de ir buscar as crianças à escola até às cinco.
We have to pick up the children from school by five.
Compare haver de:
Um dia hei de voltar à aldeia onde cresci.
One day I shall return to the village where I grew up. (determination / promise)
Hás de ver como a vida te surpreende.
You'll see how life surprises you. (reassurance)
Havemos de conseguir, não te preocupes.
We'll manage, don't worry. (resolve)
The distinction is real and felt by native speakers. Ter de is the workhorse obligation — neutral duty. Haver de is closer to English "shall" or "am going to" with added determination — a promise or a prediction you are committed to. You would not say hei de pagar o talão da luz ("I shall pay the electricity bill"), because paying a bill is a pressing obligation, not a noble resolve. But you might well say hei de aprender grego um dia ("I'll learn Greek one day") — a life aspiration.
Existence "there is / there are" — haver, not ter
This is where haver is the indispensable verb. To express existence — "there is," "there are" — European Portuguese uses the third-person singular of haver. The form never agrees with a plural noun: it is há whether one or twenty things exist.
Há pão na mesa.
There's bread on the table.
Há muitas opções no menu.
There are many options on the menu.
Não havia ninguém na sala quando entrei.
There was nobody in the room when I walked in.
Haverá tempo para tudo amanhã.
There will be time for everything tomorrow.
Houve um acidente na autoestrada esta manhã.
There was an accident on the motorway this morning.
Across tenses, haver stays in the third-person singular for existence: há, havia, haverá, houve, haja, houvesse, houver. Never agrees.
The PT-PT vs PT-BR split on "there is"
This is one of the most important dialect differences for learners to master. In Brazilian Portuguese, colloquial speech routinely replaces há with the third-person singular of ter: tem is used for existence.
| Meaning | European Portuguese | Brazilian Portuguese (colloquial) |
|---|---|---|
| Is there bread? | Há pão? | Tem pão? |
| There's a lot of traffic | Há muito trânsito | Tem muito trânsito |
| There are no tables left | Não há mesas disponíveis | Não tem mesa disponível |
| There was a problem | Houve um problema | Teve um problema |
| There will be a party | Haverá uma festa | Vai ter uma festa |
If you are learning European Portuguese, use haver (há, havia, houve) for existence without exception. Tem pão? is immediately identifiable as Brazilian. Both forms are grammatical Portuguese in their respective varieties, but they carry strong dialect signals. Written Brazilian Portuguese, particularly in formal registers, still tends to prefer há; it is in colloquial Brazilian speech that tem dominates.
Time "ago" — haver, not ter
"Ago" in European Portuguese is expressed with há + time period. Never with ter. The verb stays impersonal; it does not agree with anything.
Cheguei a Lisboa há três semanas.
I arrived in Lisbon three weeks ago.
Há muitos anos que não o vejo.
I haven't seen him in many years.
Ela saiu há cinco minutos.
She left five minutes ago.
The same form also covers "for (a duration)" when the main verb is in the present:
Moro aqui há dez anos.
I've lived here for ten years.
Estudo português há seis meses.
I've been studying Portuguese for six months.
The difference between "ago" and "for" is carried by the main verb's tense: past verb + há = ago; present verb + há = for. See Haver for Time for the full treatment.
Ter never carries this meaning. Tenho dois anos que vivo aqui is not Portuguese — it is a literal translation of a Spanish Latin-American construction (Tengo dos años que vivo aquí) that does not work in either variety of Portuguese.
Summary table: where each verb lives
| Function | Correct verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | ter only | Tenho um irmão. |
| Age | ter only | Tenho trinta anos. |
| Compound tenses (speech) | ter | Tenho comido bem. |
| Compound tenses (literary) | haver | Havia comido bem. |
| Obligation (normal) | ter de / ter que | Tenho de ir. |
| Determination / "shall" | haver de | Hei de conseguir. |
| Existence "there is" | haver (PT-PT) | Há pão. |
| Existence (colloquial PT-BR) | ter | Tem pão. (not in EP) |
| Time "ago" / "for" | haver | Há dois anos. |
| Physical sensations | ter | Tenho fome / sede / calor. |
| Relationships | ter | Tenho dois filhos. |
Notice the pattern: haver is concentrated in impersonal uses (existence, time) and in elevated compound tenses. Ter dominates everywhere a personal subject is involved.
Side-by-side: the Spanish, Brazilian, and European Portuguese contrast
Looking at the three varieties in parallel clarifies the divisions.
| English | Spanish | European Portuguese | Brazilian Portuguese (colloquial) |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have a problem | Tengo un problema | Tenho um problema | Tenho um problema |
| I have spoken | He hablado | Tenho falado | Tenho falado |
| I had spoken | Había hablado | Tinha falado | Tinha falado |
| I have to go | Tengo que ir | Tenho de ir | Tenho que ir |
| There is bread | Hay pan | Há pão | Tem pão |
| Two years ago | Hace dos años | Há dois anos | Dois anos atrás / Tem dois anos |
| I am thirty | Tengo treinta años | Tenho trinta anos | Tenho trinta anos |
The interesting line is the existence one: Spanish uses haber (hay), European Portuguese keeps the same instinct with haver (há), and Brazilian Portuguese has shifted to ter (tem) in colloquial speech. For a learner of European Portuguese, há is non-negotiable; for a learner of Brazilian Portuguese, colloquial tem is expected in everyday conversation but formal writing still often uses há.
Why this split exists: a brief history
Latin had habēre ("to have, to hold"). Both Spanish and Portuguese inherited it, and both used it for possession, for the auxiliary in compound tenses, and for existence. Over the medieval period, Portuguese developed a second "have" verb from tenēre ("to hold") — originally emphatic or resultative (tengo la llave "I have the key [in my hand]"), then gradually more general. By the sixteenth century, Portuguese ter had taken over possession almost entirely; by the seventeenth, it had encroached on the auxiliary role; by the modern period, it had won. Haver retreated to impersonal existence, time expressions, and literary compound tenses. Spanish did not undergo the same shift — haber stayed broadly dominant — which is why Spanish and Portuguese feel closer to each other in the existence domain (hay / há) than in the possession domain (tener / ter).
The Brazilian colloquial use of tem for existence pushes the same process one step further: Brazilian speech is generalizing ter even into the last haver stronghold.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hei um problema.
Incorrect — haver never expresses possession. Possession is always ter.
✅ Tenho um problema.
I have a problem.
❌ Tem muita gente na praia.
Incorrect in European Portuguese — this is Brazilian colloquial. EP uses haver for existence: há muita gente.
✅ Há muita gente na praia.
There are a lot of people at the beach. (EP)
❌ Tenho dez anos que vivo em Lisboa.
Incorrect — 'for ten years' takes há, not tenho. This sentence pattern (tener + time + que + present) belongs to some varieties of Spanish, not to any variety of Portuguese.
✅ Vivo em Lisboa há dez anos.
I've lived in Lisbon for ten years.
❌ Ele há trinta e cinco anos.
Incorrect — age is expressed with ter, never haver. Also, há means 'there is / ago', so this sentence as written means 'he — 35 years ago', which makes no sense.
✅ Ele tem trinta e cinco anos.
He is 35 years old.
❌ Hão muitas pessoas à espera.
Incorrect — haver in the existential sense stays in the third-person singular (há). It does not agree with the plural noun.
✅ Há muitas pessoas à espera.
There are many people waiting.
❌ Tenho de pagar o talão há meia hora.
Incorrect mixing — if you mean 'I had to pay thirty minutes ago', tenho de needs to be in the past (tinha de / tive de), and há thirty minutes ago attaches to the event.
✅ Tive de pagar o talão há meia hora.
I had to pay the bill half an hour ago.
Key Takeaways
- Ter is the general-purpose "have" verb: possession, age, compound tenses (in speech), obligation (ter de / ter que), sensations, relationships.
- Haver is the specialist verb: existence (há, havia, houve), time expressions (há dois anos), literary/formal compound tenses, the modal haver de
- infinitive.
- Existence is the sharpest dialect split: PT-PT há, colloquial PT-BR tem. For European Portuguese, always use há.
- Ter de is everyday obligation; haver de is a determined or promised future, not an urgent duty.
- Time "ago" and "for (a duration)" use há
- time period, regardless of tense of the main verb.
- Spanish haber covers three jobs (auxiliary, existence, obligation-with-de) that Portuguese splits between ter and haver. The biggest trap for Spanish speakers is reaching for haver where Portuguese wants ter.
Related Topics
- Ter and Haver: Two Verbs for 'To Have'A2 — Portuguese splits the work of 'to have' between two verbs: ter (possession, obligation, auxiliary, everyday states) and haver (existential, time expressions, mild obligation, literary auxiliary). This page is the high-level map.
- Ter for PossessionA1 — How the verb ter expresses ownership, family, physical traits, body parts, age, time, and the family of 'ter + noun' states that English handles with 'to be'.
- Haver as Existential ('there is / there are')A1 — How Portuguese expresses existence with há — the impersonal verb that stays singular no matter what, across every tense and mood.
- Há for Time ExpressionsA2 — How Portuguese uses há with time phrases to mean 'ago' (with past verbs) and 'for / since' (with present verbs), and why duration-so-far uses the present tense, not the perfect.
- Haver as Auxiliary (Formal)C1 — Haver + past participle in formal writing, legal prose, and nineteenth-century literature — how to recognize it, why it persists, and when (almost never) to produce it yourself.
- Ter vs Haver as AuxiliaryB1 — Why modern European Portuguese uses ter instead of haver in compound tenses, with the register, set expressions, and 'haver de + infinitive' left behind.