Tengo que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto.

In Spanish, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

• Tengo = I have
• The -go form shows it is yo

So Tengo que renovar... is perfectly natural and usually more common than Yo tengo que renovar...

You would add yo only if you want emphasis or contrast:

• Yo tengo que renovar el pasaporte, pero ella no.
  I have to renew the passport, but she doesn’t.

Tener que + infinitive means to have to do something.

In this sentence:

• Tengo que renovar = I have to renew

This is one of the most common ways to express obligation in Spanish.

More examples:

• Tengo que estudiar. = I have to study.
• Tenemos que salir. = We have to leave.
• Tienes que llamar. = You have to call.

Because tener que is a fixed structure meaning to have to.

You cannot normally say:

• Tengo renovar... ❌

You need:

• Tengo que renovar... ✅

Think of que here as part of the grammar pattern, not as a separate word you can leave out.

After tener que, Spanish uses the infinitive form of the second verb.

So:

• Tengo que renovar = I have to renew
• Tiene que esperar = He/She has to wait
• Tenemos que ir = We have to go

This is similar to English, where have to is followed by the base form:

• I have to renew
• She has to wait

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

So renew the passport becomes:

• renovar el pasaporte

Even if English might sometimes say renew my passport, Spanish may still use the article when the object is understood to belong to the speaker.

Compare:

• Tengo que renovar el pasaporte. = I have to renew my/the passport.
• Me duele la cabeza. = My head hurts / I have a headache.
  (Literally: the head hurts me)

If you want to be extra explicit, you could say:

• Tengo que renovar mi pasaporte.

But el pasaporte sounds very natural here.

Antes de means before.

So:

• antes de agosto = before August

It refers to a point in time earlier than August begins.

Examples:

• antes de comer = before eating
• antes de salir = before leaving
• antes de mañana = before tomorrow

Notice that antes is followed by de here. That is the normal pattern:

• antes de + noun
• antes de + infinitive

Because antes normally needs de before a noun or infinitive.

So you say:

• antes de agosto ✅
• antes agosto ❌

And also:

• antes de viajar = before travelling
• antes de la reunión = before the meeting

This is just part of the fixed construction antes de.

In Spanish, months are not normally capitalized unless they begin a sentence.

So:

• agosto ✅
• Agosto ❌ in the middle of a sentence

The same is true for days of the week and many nationalities:

• lunes
• enero
• español

This is different from English, where August must be capitalized.

Yes, but the meaning is slightly different.

• Tengo que renovar el pasaporte... = I have to renew the passport
  This sounds like an obligation or necessity.
• Necesito renovar el pasaporte... = I need to renew the passport
  This focuses more on need.

In many situations they are very similar, but tener que often sounds a bit more like I must / I have to.

Not usually in this context.

• renovar el pasaporte = renew the passport
• cambiar el pasaporte = change/replace the passport

If your passport is expiring, renovar is the normal verb.

Use cambiar only if you really mean replacing it for some reason, not simply renewing it.

You change the form of tener:

• Tengo que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = I have to renew the passport before August.
• Tienes que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = You have to renew the passport before August.
• Tiene que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = He/She/You (formal) has to renew the passport before August.
• Tenemos que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = We have to renew the passport before August.
• Tenéis que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = You all have to renew the passport before August.
  This is common in Spain.
• Tienen que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto. = They/You all have to renew the passport before August.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Tengo ≈ TEN-go
• que ≈ keh
• renovar ≈ reh-noh-BAR
• el pasaporte ≈ el pah-sah-POR-teh
• antes de agosto ≈ AN-tes deh ah-GOS-toh

A few helpful notes:

• The g in tengo is a hard g, like in go
• The r in renovar is a light tapped r
• que has a silent u
• In Spain, z in renovar is not relevant here, but in agosto the g is like the English g in go

Yes. Tengo is present tense, but Spanish often uses the present to talk about a current obligation about the future.

So:

• Tengo que renovar el pasaporte antes de agosto.

means that right now, the speaker has that obligation, even if the renewal will happen later.

This works the same way in English:

• I have to renew my passport before August.

The verb is present, but the action is still in the future.