Breakdown of Tenemos que pagar el vuelo ahora.
Questions & Answers about Tenemos que pagar el vuelo ahora.
Why does this sentence use que after Tenemos?
When you want to express that someone "has to" do something, you use the special phrase tener que followed by an action verb. Here, Tenemos que pagar means "We have to pay." If you left out que and just said Tenemos, it would mean you physically possess something, like "We have the flight." Where is the word for "for"? Why doesn't it say pagar por el vuelo?
In English, we usually say "pay for something," but in Spanish, the verb pagar directly takes the item you are buying. Pagar el vuelo literally means "to pay the flight," which is the completely natural and correct way to say it in Spanish. Adding por here isn't necessary. Since this lesson is about telling time, how does ahora fit in?
Ahora simply means "now." While you aren't giving a specific clock time using phrases like son las tres (it is three o'clock), ahora is a crucial time vocabulary word. It is often placed at the end of a sentence to show that an action needs to happen immediately. Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?
The "we" is built right into the verb! The -emos ending on Tenemos tells you that "we" are the ones who have to pay. You could say Nosotros tenemos que pagar, but Spanish speakers usually drop the Nosotros (we) unless they want to add special emphasis. Learn Tenemos que pagar el vuelo ahora and more in Spanish
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