Learn Spanish (Spain): Tenemos que reciclar en casa.

Tenemos que reciclar en casa.

We have to recycle at home.

Breakdown of Tenemos que reciclar en casa.

la casa

the house / home (also "at home")

in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)

tener

to have

que

that (relative pronoun, conjunction)

Questions & Answers about Tenemos que reciclar en casa.

How is tenemos que reciclar different from hay que reciclar?

Tenemos que specifies exactly who has to do the action (in this case, "we" do), because it conjugates the verb tener. Hay que means "one must" or "it is necessary to" in a general sense, without pointing to any specific person.

Could I use debemos instead of tenemos que in this sentence?

Yes. Debemos reciclar en casa also means "We must recycle at home." Tenemos que is generally more common in everyday spoken Spanish for personal obligations, while deber can sound a bit more formal or express a stronger moral duty.

Why is it en casa and not en la casa?

Just like in English where we say "at home" instead of "at the home," Spanish uses the set phrase en casa without the definite article la when referring to one's own home.

Why do we use the preposition en here instead of a?

We use en because the action (recycling) happens in a stationary location (at home). If there were movement toward the house, like saying "We are going home," you would use the preposition a, making it a casa.