Learn Spanish (Latin America): Mi esposo tiene que sacar la basura.

Mi esposo tiene que sacar la basura.

My husband has to take out the trash.

Breakdown of Mi esposo tiene que sacar la basura.

Questions & Answers about Mi esposo tiene que sacar la basura.

Why is there a que between tiene and sacar?

In Spanish, to say that someone "has to" do something, you use the phrase tener que followed by an action verb in its basic, unconjugated form (the infinitive). If you just say tiene sacar, it sounds like "he has take out," which is incorrect. The que is the glue that makes it mean "has to".

Why is the verb tiene instead of "tene"?

The verb tener (to have) is a "stem-changing" verb. This means that in the present tense, the e in the middle changes to ie for most forms. Since we are talking about mi esposo (he), we use the "he" form, which is tiene.

Why isn't sacar conjugated to match mi esposo?

When you use the tener que structure, only the first verb (tener) changes to match the person doing the action. The second verb always stays in its full, original form ending in -ar, -er, or -ir (the infinitive). Here, that is sacar (to take out).

Does sacar always mean "to take out"?