The verb tener means "to have". It is an irregular verb, which means its present tense forms do not follow the standard rules completely.
| Subject | Present tense of tener |
|---|
| yo | tengo |
| tú | tienes |
| él / ella / usted | tiene |
| nosotros / nosotras | tenemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | tenéis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tienen |
Use tener to talk about possession, such as having a pet, money, or time.
Physical Sensations
In English, you use the verb "to be" for physical sensations like being hungry, thirsty, hot, or afraid. In Spanish, you use tener combined with a noun. Literally, you are saying "I have hunger" (el hambre) or "I have thirst" (la sed).
Because these sensations are nouns rather than adjectives, if you want to say you are very hungry or hot, you must use mucho (a lot of) instead of muy (very).
Expressing Age
In Spanish, you don't are a certain age; you have years. When talking about age, use tener followed by the number and the word años (years).
To ask someone's age, use cuántos (how many) to ask "How many years do you have?".
Being Right
You will also use tener to say that someone is right. The Spanish word for "reason" is la razón. To say someone is right, you literally say they "have reason" (tener razón).
