Breakdown of Usted tiene que cenar conmigo.
Questions & Answers about Usted tiene que cenar conmigo.
How does the "have to" part work in this sentence?
To express obligation (something you must or have to do), Spanish uses the phrase tener que followed by a main action verb. Here, tener is conjugated to match usted (becoming tiene), followed by que, and then the action cenar. Why does the Spanish sentence just use cenar instead of translating the words "have dinner"?
In English, we often use a phrase like "have dinner" or "eat dinner." In Spanish, there is a single, specific verb for this action: cenar (to dine). Because it follows tiene que, it stays in its unconjugated dictionary form. Why is the verb tiene instead of tienes if it means "you have"?
The sentence uses usted, which is the formal way to say "you". In Spanish, usted always takes the same verb conjugations as él (he) and ella (she). If you were talking to a friend using the informal tú, you would say tú tienes que cenar conmigo. I see conmigo means "with me", but shouldn't it be con mí?
It is a special exception! Whenever the word con (with) is followed by mí (me), they automatically combine into the single word conmigo. Saying con mí is incorrect in Spanish. Learn Usted tiene que cenar conmigo and more in Spanish
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