Questions & Answers about Yo tengo un perro pequeño.
Why is the word for 'I have' tengo? Doesn't the verb end in -er?
Yes, the dictionary form of the verb is tener. However, it is irregular in the yo (I) form. Instead of just dropping the '-er' and adding '-o' to make 'teno', it adds a 'g' to becometengo. You will see this 'g' pop up in the 'I' form of a fewother common Spanish verbs too!
Do I always need to use yo before tengo?
No, you can simply say Tengo un perro pequeño. Because the verb form tengo is unique and only ever means 'I have', the word yo isn't strictly necessary. Native speakers usually leave it out unless they want to add emphasis, like pointing out 'I have a small dog, but he doesn't'.
Why are the words flipped to perro pequeño instead of 'pequeño perro'?
In Spanish, descriptive words (adjectives) usually come after the noun they are describing. So instead of saying 'small dog' like we do in English, the structure is 'dog small' (perro pequeño).
If my dog was female, how would this sentence change?
You would need to change the 'o' endings to 'a' endings to match the femininegender. The word for 'a' becomes una, 'dog' becomes perra, and 'small' becomes pequeña. The wholesentence would be: Yo tengo una perra pequeña.