Tiene control absoluto.

to have

Breakdown of Tiene control absoluto.

• el control: the control
• absoluto: absolute

Questions & Answers about Tiene control absoluto.

Why doesn’t the sentence say Él/ella tiene control absoluto?

Because Spanish often leaves out the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb form or from context.

• Tiene already tells you it is third person singular:
  • he has
  • she has
  • it has
  • you have (formal, usted)

So Tiene control absoluto is a perfectly normal complete sentence in Spanish. Spanish does this much more often than English.

You would add the pronoun only if you want to:

• emphasise it: Él tiene control absoluto
• contrast it with someone else
• avoid ambiguity in a specific context

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What exactly does tiene mean here?