Learn Spanish (Latin America): Quiero dormir, pero tengo que trabajar.

Quiero dormir, pero tengo que trabajar.

I want to sleep, but I have to work.

Breakdown of Quiero dormir, pero tengo que trabajar.

Questions & Answers about Quiero dormir, pero tengo que trabajar.

Why do we need the word que after tengo?

The phrase tener que is a special combination used to express an obligation, meaning "to have to" do something. You conjugate the verb tener to match the person (like tengo for "I"), add que, and then put the action you have to do in its infinitive form (like trabajar).

There's no yo in this sentence. How do we know it means "I"?

The verbs themselves tell us who is doing the action! Both quiero (I want) and tengo (I have) end in -o, which is the standard "I" ending for present tense verbs. Spanish speakers usually drop the word yo because the verb ending already makes the subject perfectly clear.

Why are dormir and trabajar left in their original dictionary forms?

In both halves of this sentence, you are combining a main verb with a second action: "wanting to sleep" (quiero dormir) and "having to work" (tengo que trabajar). The rule in Spanish is that you only conjugate the first verb in the chain. The second verb always stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form.

Why do the base verbs querer and tener change their spellings so much to become quiero and tengo?