Log inSign up

El chico tiene un libro, pero yo tengo dos.

El chico tiene un libro, pero yo tengo dos.
The boy has a book, but I have two.
From Lesson 38:Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of El chico tiene un libro, pero yo tengo dos.

yo
I
el libro
the book
un
a, an, some
el chico
the boy
pero
but
tener
to have
dos
two

Questions & Answers about El chico tiene un libro, pero yo tengo dos.

Why does the sentence use un instead of uno for "one book"?
The number one is uno, but when it comes directly before a masculine noun like libro (book), it drops the 'o' and becomes un. It also happens to be the exact same word used for "a" or "an" in Spanish.
Does the number dos change if I am talking about feminine words?
No, the number dos (two) is always dos. Unlike some words in Spanish, the numbers 2 through 10 never change their endings to match the gender of the things you are counting.
Why does the verb "to have" look so different in tiene and tengo?
They are both forms of the verb tener (to have). It is an irregular verb, meaning it doesn't follow normal spelling patterns. Tiene goes with el chico (he has), while tengo is the specific form for yo (I have).
Is it strictly necessary to include yo before tengo?
Not usually! Because tengo can only ever mean "I have", you can often drop the pronoun and just say pero tengo dos. In this sentence, yo is added to strongly emphasize the contrast: the boy has one, but I have two.

Learn El chico tiene un libro, pero yo tengo dos and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →