No tenemos tiempo hoy.

Breakdown of No tenemos tiempo hoy.

hoy
today
no
no
tener tiempo
to have time

Questions & Answers about No tenemos tiempo hoy.

Why does the sentence start with no?

In Spanish, the usual way to make a sentence negative is to put no directly before the verb.

  • Tenemos tiempo = We have time
  • No tenemos tiempo = We do not have time

So no goes before tenemos.

What does tenemos mean exactly?

Tenemos is the nosotros form of the verb tener, which usually means to have.

The present-tense forms are:

  • tengo = I have
  • tienes = you have
  • tiene = he/she/you have
  • tenemos = we have
  • tienen = they/you all have

So tenemos means we have.

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.

AI Language TutorTry it ↗
Your avatar
“How does verb conjugation work in Spanish?”
Spanish verbs change form based on the subject, tense, and mood. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns depending on whether they end in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. For example, "hablar" (to speak) becomes "hablo" (I speak), "hablas" (you speak), and "habla" (he/she speaks) in the present tense.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Spanish

Master 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