The Present Tense of tener (to have) (El tiempo presente del verbo tener)
tengo tienes tiene Nosotros tenemos Vosotros tenéis Ellos / Ellas tienen Uds. The verb tener means to have or to possess. It is an irregular verb that is conjugated as follows: Notice the irregular yo form and the changes that occur in the stem of the second-person singular and third persons: add i before the e. The verb tener Yo Tú Él Ella Ud.
Uses Talk about ownership: what someone has. Talk about hair and eye color. Talk about age. Talk about what someone “must or has” to do (obligation).
Ownership / What One Has Tengo un perro. I have a dog.
Hair / Eye Color Tengo el pelo castaño. I have brown hair. Ramóna tiene los ojos marrones / cafés / castaños. Ramóna has brown eyes.
To Express Age Tener + number + años –Tú tienes 16 años You are 16 years old. / You have 16 years. –Ellos tienen 80 años They are 80 years old. They have 80 years. * In Spanish they do not use ser to express age. They say somone has a number of years.
Age –¿Cuántos años tienes? –How old are you? –(How many years do you have?) –Yo tengo quince años –I am 15 years old –(I have 15 years)
The verb tener + que + infinitive To express the idea of to have to (do something).
The verb tener + que + infinitive tengo tienes tiene tenemos tenéis tienen que an infinitive = an unconjugated verb: a verb with no tense or form. i.e. to study, to write, to talk, to listen, to read, to eat, to learn. estudiar escribir hablar escuchar leer comer aprender decidir para el examen de español. Tengo Conjugate tener, add que, and then always add an infinitive, not a conjugated verb. I have to study for the Spanish exam. to express the idea of to have to (do something). tengo que estudiar que estudiar
limpiar el garaje. ¿Tienes Tenemos I have to clean the garage. Tengoque Do you have to study a lot? queestudiar mucho? We have to prepare the food. quepreparar la comida. The verb tener + que + infinitive Don’t forget que!
¿Qué tienes que hacer este fin de semana? ¿estudiar? ¿limpiar? ¿trabajar? ¿visitar? ¿escribir una carta? ¿hacer la tarea? ¿quitar la nieve? ¿ir a alguna parte? The verb tener + que + infinitive
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