Questions & Answers about No tenemos tiempo hoy.
Why does the sentence start with no?
What does tenemos mean exactly?
Why isn’t nosotros included?
Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- Tenemos already tells you the subject is we
- So No tenemos tiempo hoy is completely natural
You could say Nosotros no tenemos tiempo hoy, but that usually adds emphasis, such as:
- We don’t have time today
- As for us, we don’t have time today
In normal conversation, leaving out nosotros is more common.
Why is it tiempo and not el tiempo or un tiempo?
Here, tiempo means time in a general, uncountable sense, so Spanish normally uses it without an article.
- Tenemos tiempo = We have time
- No tenemos tiempo = We don’t have time
Using el tiempo here would usually sound wrong for this meaning.
Also, be careful: el tiempo often means the weather or time in a more specific sense, depending on context.
Why is tiempo singular?
Because time is usually treated as an uncountable idea here, just like in English.
- No tenemos tiempo = We don’t have time
You would not normally say No tenemos tiempos for this meaning.
The plural tiempos exists, but it is used in other contexts, such as:
- historical periods
- grammatical tenses
- different kinds of times/eras
Why is hoy at the end? Can it go somewhere else?
Yes, hoy can move, and the meaning stays basically the same.
Common options:
- No tenemos tiempo hoy
- Hoy no tenemos tiempo
Both are natural. The difference is mostly about emphasis:
- No tenemos tiempo hoy emphasizes the whole statement first, then adds today
- Hoy no tenemos tiempo emphasizes today
The version in your sentence is very normal and natural.
Could this sentence also be said as No hay tiempo hoy?
Yes, but the meaning is a little different.
- No tenemos tiempo hoy = We don’t have time today
- No hay tiempo hoy = There isn’t time today / There’s no time today
The first one focuses on we not having enough time.
The second sounds more general and impersonal.
So both are possible, but they are not exactly the same.
Is this really present tense even though it refers to today?
Yes. Spanish uses the present tense here just like English does.
- No tenemos tiempo hoy = We don’t have time today
This is a present-tense statement about today’s situation. Nothing unusual is happening grammatically.
How do you pronounce No tenemos tiempo hoy?
A simple Latin American pronunciation guide would be:
noh teh-NEH-mohs TYEHM-poh oy
A few tips:
- no sounds like noh
- tenemos has stress on ne: te-NE-mos
- tiempo begins with a sound like tyehm
- hoy sounds like oy
- The h in hoy is silent
Are there any accent marks in this sentence?
No. None of the words in No tenemos tiempo hoy needs a written accent mark.
- no — no accent
- tenemos — no accent
- tiempo — no accent
- hoy — no accent
Even without written accents, each word still has a natural spoken stress:
- tenemos
- tiempo
Can tener really be used for having time in Spanish?
Yes. This is completely standard Spanish, just like English says to have time.
Very common examples:
- Tengo tiempo = I have time
- No tengo tiempo = I don’t have time
- ¿Tienes tiempo? = Do you have time?
- No tenemos tiempo hoy = We don’t have time today
So tener + tiempo is the normal expression.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning SpanishMaster Spanish — from No tenemos tiempo hoy to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions