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Ellos tienen hambre y sed.

Ellos tienen hambre y sed.
They are hungry and thirsty.
From Lesson 19:The verb tener (tengo, tienes)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ellos tienen hambre y sed.

Why does this sentence use tienen (they have) instead of a verb for "to be"?
In Spanish, feelings of physical need like hunger, thirst, sleepiness, or being hot and cold are expressed with the verb tener (to have). Instead of saying "they are hungry", Spanish speakers literally say "they have hunger" (tienen hambre).
Since "they" is plural, why don't we make hambre and sed plural?
Because hambre (hunger) and sed (thirst) are nouns, not adjectives. In English, you use the adjectives "hungry" and "thirsty", which describe the people. But in Spanish, you are saying "they have hunger and thirst." Just like in English, the words for "hunger" and "thirst" stay singular.
Why is there an "i" in tienen if the verb is tener?
Tener (to have) is a stem-changing verb. For most present tense forms, the e in the middle changes to ie. So, instead of "tenen", it becomes tienen (they have). The same thing happens with tienes (you have) and tiene (he/she/it has).
Is it okay to just say Tienen hambre y sed without Ellos?
Yes, absolutely! Because the verb tienen already means "they have" (or "you all have"), you can drop the word Ellos. You usually only include it for emphasis or if it is not clear who you are talking about from the context.

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