tener

Tener — "to have" — is one of the highest-frequency verbs in Spanish and packs an unusual number of irregularities into a single paradigm. The yo present is the yo-go form tengo (the -g- doesn't come from any sound logic, just a Latin inheritance shared by poner/pongo, salir/salgo, hacer/hago, venir/vengo, etc.). The other present forms add an e > ie stem change (tienes, tiene, tienen) — but not in nosotros and vosotros, where the e survives (tenemos, tenéis). The preterite uses a u-stem (tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron) with the special "strong" endings (no accent on yo or él). The future drops the -e- of the infinitive and inserts a -d-, giving the tendr- stem (tendré, tendrás, tendrá…). The tú affirmative imperative is the short, irregular ten.

On top of this, tener lives a second life as a periphrastic verb with a host of fixed-noun constructions where Spanish uses tener + noun where English uses "to be" + adjective: tener hambre (to be hungry), tener frío (to be cold), tener miedo (to be scared), tener prisa (to be in a hurry), tener sueño (to be sleepy), tener X años (to be X years old). And tener que + infinitive is the standard way to express obligation: tengo que ir — "I have to go." Master this verb and you've unlocked half of beginner spoken Spanish.

Non-finite forms

Both the gerund teniendo and the participle tenido are perfectly regular — the irregularities of tener are concentrated in the finite forms. Tenido is occasionally used as an adjective in literary or set expressions (tenido por sabio — "regarded as wise") but is otherwise just the participle.

Indicative — simple tenses

Presente

Yo-go (tengo) plus e > ie "boot" in the other stressed-stem forms. The nosotros and vosotros keep the e because the stress is on the ending.

Pretérito perfecto simple

The classic u-stem preterite: stem tuv-, with the "strong" (unstressed) endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. The yo and él forms carry no written accent because the stress shifts to the stem (tuve, tuvo, not tuvé, tuvó). This stress pattern is the diagnostic of the whole u-stem family (estuve, anduve, pude, puse, supe, hube, cupe).

In the preterite, tener sometimes carries an inchoative ("got, received, came to have") reading rather than a stative one: Tuve una idea — "I got/had an idea (it came to me)." Tuvimos un problema con el coche — "We had / ran into a problem with the car." For the continuous state of having something in the past, Spanish reaches for the imperfect tenía. This is the same preterite/imperfect split as with saber (supe = found out, sabía = knew) and conocer (conocí = met, conocía = knew).

Pretérito imperfecto

Perfectly regular -er imperfect, built on the stem ten-. This is the form for states of having in the past — what you had, owned, or experienced over time.

Futuro simple

Dropped-vowel + d-insertion future: the -e- of the infinitive drops, and a -d- slides in to break up the cluster nr, giving the stem tendr-. The same pattern produces pondr- (poner), vendr- (venir), saldr- (salir), valdr- (valer). The endings are universal -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.

Condicional

Same tendr- stem as the future, with conditional endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. The conditional of tener is the standard way to soften an obligation: Tendrías que decírselo — "You should tell him."

Indicative — compound tenses

All compound tenses pair haber with the regular participle tenido.

Pretérito perfecto compuesto

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Futuro compuesto

Condicional compuesto

Subjunctive — simple tenses

Presente de subjuntivo

The present subjunctive is built on the yo-go stem teng- — the -g- from tengo runs through every form, with regular -er opposite-vowel endings.

This is the structural reason yo-go verbs are foundational for the subjunctive — once you know tengo, you know tenga (and the same for pongo → ponga, salgo → salga, hago → haga, vengo → venga). The e > ie shift of the indicative present does not carry into the subjunctive — the -g- prevents the stress from reaching the e.

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)

Built on the 3rd-plural preterite stem tuv-. Both -ra and -se forms exist; -ra dominates spoken Spain.

Subjunctive — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo

Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Imperative

The tú affirmative ten is one of the eight famously short irregular imperatives of Spanish (di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven — from decir, hacer, ir, poner, salir, ser, tener, venir). All of them drop to a single syllable; none follow any predictable pattern. Ten is used constantly in everyday speech to hand something to someone: Ten, esto es para ti — "Here, this is for you." With pronouns attached, the accent comes back: tenlo, tenla, ténmelo.

The vosotros affirmative tened is the regular form (drop the -r, add -d). Tened cuidado — "be careful (all of you)" — is the standard parental warning.

Tener que + infinitive — obligation

This is the most common periphrastic obligation construction in Spanish. Tener que + infinitive means "to have to do something" — a strong, personal obligation. It is always tener que + infinitive; never tener de or tener a.

• Tengo que estudiar esta tarde. — I have to study this afternoon.
• Tenemos que hablar. — We need to talk.
• Tuviste que pagar tú al final, ¿no? — You had to pay in the end, didn't you?

The alternative deber + infinitive expresses a more moral or formal obligation; hay que + infinitive expresses an impersonal obligation ("one has to"). Tener que is the everyday workhorse.

Tener + noun — where English uses "to be"

A constellation of fixed expressions uses tener + noun where English uses "to be" + adjective. The noun is treated as a possession, not a state. None of these expressions takes an article (tengo hambre, not tengo una hambre) — except when modified by mucho/poco and similar quantifiers (tengo mucha hambre).

High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spanish

Tener pinta de… is one of the most-used peninsular informal phrases: Tiene pinta de buena persona — "He looks like a good guy"; Tiene pinta de lluvia — "It looks like rain." The construction takes a noun or adjective directly after de. (informal)

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Tener layers four irregularities: yo-go (tengo), e > ie stem change (tienes, tiene, tienen), u-stem preterite (tuve, tuvo — no accent), and dropped-vowel + d-insertion future (tendré).
• The present subjunctive is built on the yo-go stem teng- — once you know tengo, you know tenga. The e > ie shift does not appear in the subjunctive.
• The preterite tuve often carries an inchoative reading ("got, received, came to have"). For continuous past states of having, use the imperfect tenía.
• Tener que
  • infinitive is the standard obligation construction. Never tener de
    • infinitive.
• A whole vocabulary of states (hunger, thirst, cold, fear, age) uses tener
  • noun in Spanish where English uses "to be" + adjective. Tengo hambre, never estoy hambre.
• The short tú affirmative imperative ten is one of the eight famously irregular monosyllabic imperatives; tened is the regular peninsular vosotros.