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Spanish (Latin America)

The verb **tener** means "to have". It is an irregular verb, but it is one of the most important verbs in Spanish because it is used to talk about possession, age, and many basic physical states.

| Pronoun | Verb form |
|---|---|
| yo | tengo |
| tú | tienes |
| usted, él, ella | tiene |
| nosotros, nosotras | tenemos |
| ustedes, ellos, ellas | tienen |

### Possession

The most straightforward use of **tener** is to express possession or ownership, exactly like "to have" in English.

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### Expressing age

In English, you *are* a certain number of years old. In Spanish, you literally *have* years (**años**). To ask or state age, always use **tener**.

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### Physical needs and sensations

Spanish uses **tener** followed by a noun to express many basic needs and sensations where English uses "to be". For example, instead of saying "I am hungry", a Spanish speaker says "I have hunger" (**tengo hambre**).

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Because these expressions use nouns (like hunger or heat) rather than adjectives, you use words like **mucho** or **mucha** (much / a lot of) instead of *muy* (very) to intensify them.

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You also use **tener** to express certain mental states or concepts, such as fear (**miedo**), luck (**suerte**), and being right (**razón**).

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To have (tener)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (yo soy)

Noun gender and definite articles (el, la)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Complex prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de...)

Question	Answer
hunger	el hambre
to be hungry	tener hambre
I am very hungry.	Yo tengo mucha hambre.
Are you hungry now?	¿Usted tiene hambre ahora?
thirst	la sed
to be thirsty	tener sed
The boy is thirsty.	El niño tiene sed.
We are not thirsty.	Nosotros no tenemos sed.
cold (sensation)	el frío
to be cold (person)	tener frío
I am very cold here.	Aquí tengo mucho frío.
Are the cats cold?	¿Tienen frío los gatos?
heat	el calor
to be hot (person)	tener calor
She is very hot.	Ella tiene mucho calor.
We are hot in the house.	Tenemos calor en la casa.
sleepiness	el sueño
to be sleepy	tener sueño
The grandfather is sleepy.	El abuelo tiene sueño.
You are tired and sleepy.	Ustedes están cansados y tienen sueño.
fear	el miedo
to be afraid	tener miedo
I am not afraid.	Yo no tengo miedo.
The small dog is afraid.	El perro pequeño tiene miedo.
year	el año
The bird is one year old.	El pájaro tiene un año.
The tree is many years old.	El árbol tiene muchos años.
how much / how many	cuánto
How old are you?	¿Cuántos años tienes?
How many books do you have?	¿Cuántos libros tienen ustedes?
luck	la suerte
to be lucky	tener suerte
You are very lucky.	Tú tienes mucha suerte.
We are lucky.	Nosotros tenemos suerte.
reason / right	la razón
to be right	tener razón
The lady is right.	La señora tiene razón.
You are smart and you are right.	Tú eres inteligente y tienes razón.
I have a new car.	Yo tengo un carro nuevo.
They have a large house.	Ellas tienen una casa grande.

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