What are the 5 uses of tener?

In Spanish, as in English, many verbs have multiple meanings and are used in different ways in colloquial expressions and phrasal verbs, for example. You'll be familiar with examples in English such as take in, take out, take down, take on, take over, etc.

The Spanish verb "tener" itself, generally means to have or possess, but is used in various ways such as "to accommodate", to express age, "to experience", "to hold", "to judge", "to keep" and many more.

Some examples of idiomatic expressions in Spanish using "tener":

• "to possess" - Mi amiga tiene una casa en el lago.
• "to accommodate" - Tenemos a los abuelos en casa por unos días.
• to express age - Tengo diecisiete añnos.
• "to experience" - Tienes un día aburrido?
• "to hold" - Ten la jarra con cuidado.
• "to judge" - Tenerse por sabio.
• "to keep" - Tengo el dinero en la caja fuerte.

Various expressions combine this Spanish verb with other words, and the meanings of the expressions seem unrelated to the separate words. One of them is "tener que ver". As well as the meaning "to have to watch", this expression means to be related to something. Example: "Tu comentario no tiene nada que ver con la conversacíon" - Your comment has nothing to do with the conversation.

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Tener is one of the three most used verbs in Spanish. It means, “to have”, speaking about possession. But we also use it for many feelings or other things (tengo hambre – I’m hungry; tengo 28 años – I’m 28 years old; tengo sueño – I’m sleepy), as well as for expressing obligation (the “I have to ______” form – tener que).

That may sound complicated when listed in one sentence, but by the end of this post everything will be crystal clear – it’s a pretty simple to learn verb.

Let’s look at how this all works.

Tener Conjugation in Present

We’ll start just by covering the present tense conjugation of tener. These are pretty straightforward:

EnglishSpanishI haveYo tengoYou haveTú tienesHe hasÉl tieneShe hasÉlla tieneThey haveEllos tienenYou (plural) haveUstedes tienenWe haveNosotros tenemos

We won’t worry about any other tense in this post. Remember, if you want to use the future tense, instead of learning the future tense (until advanced stages), you can just use “voy a tener” (I’m going to have).

That’s pretty much all you need for “to have” in the most basic sense – let’s look at it’s second use, “I have to ______”.

Tener Que

Tener que is one of the most used core conjugations in everyday life. I have to eat. You have to fix that. They have to hurry up. Tener que is your “I have to _____” structure. And you’ll use it a lot.

While Tener just means “to have” – expressing possession – Tener que expresses obligation.

Here’s the structure:

Tener (conjugated) + que + infinitive of another verb
I/you/we/they have to + _________ (another verb)

For instance, “tengo que ir” is “I have to go”.

This will make more sense shortly. For now, take a quick look at the conjugation for the Tener Que part of things:

EnglishSpanishI have to ______Yo tengo que ______You have to ______Tú tienes que ______He has to ______Él tiene que ______She has to ______Élla tiene que ______They have to ______Ellos tienen que ______You (plural) have to ______Ustedes tienen que ______We have to ______Nosotros tenemos que ______

We’ll cover some practice examples soon, but first, let’s cover the handful of weird uses of tener (like I have hunger, I have 28 years, etc).

Weird Uses of Tener

Unlike in English we use the verb tener to describe some physical states and age. For instance:

• Tengo hambre (I’m hungry)
• Tengo sueño (I’m sleepy)
• Tengo sed (I’m thirsty)
• Tengo calor (I’m feeling hot/warm) Note: Don’t say “soy caliente” or “estoy caliente” – this doesn’t mean I’m hot (temperature), it means I’m horny. Whoops!
• Tengo 32 años (I’m 32 years old)

Tener Examples

Yo tengo = I have

• Yo tengo que estudiar. (I have to study)
• Yo tengo una mascota. (I have a pet)
• Yo tengo dolor de cabeza. (I have a headache)

Yo no tengo = I don’t have

• No tengo que ir a trabajar los domingos. (I don’t have to go to work on sundays)
• Yo no tengo hambre. (I’m not hungry)
• No tengo sueño aún. (I’m not sleepy yet)

Tú tienes = You have

• Tú tienes un secreto. (You have a secret)
• Tú tienes que estudiar más. (You have to study more)
• ¿Por qué tienes hambre otra vez? (Why are you hungry again?)

Tú no tienes = you don’t have

• ¿Tú tienes zapatos negros? (Do you have black shoes?)
• Tú no tienes que ir si no quieres. (You don’t have to go if you don’t want to)
• Si no tienes tiempo puedes llegar más tarde. (If you don’t have time you can arrive late)

Él tiene = He has

• Mi primo tiene un carro nuevo. (My cousin has a new car)
• Él tiene que viajar a Perú la próxima semana. (He has to go to Peru next week)
• Pedro tiene un examen mañana. (Pedro has an exam tomorrow)

Él no tiene = He doesn’t have

• Él no tiene que ir al supermercado hoy. (He doesn’t have to go to the supermarket today)
• Mi hermano no tiene novia. (My brother doesn’t have a girlfriend)
• Él no tiene celular. (He doesn’t have a cellphone)

Ella tiene = she has

• Ella tiene ojos azules. (She has blue eyes)
• Mi madre tiene 60 años. (My mother is 60 years old)
• María tiene mucho por hacer. (Maria has a lot of things to do)

Ella no tiene = she doesn’t have

• Marleny tiene el cabello largo. (Marleny has long hair)
• Ella tiene que llevar los niños al colegio. (She has to take the kids to school)
• Ella tiene que llegar al aeropuerto a tiempo. (She has to get to the airport on time)

Eso tiene = It has

• Eso tiene que funcionar. (It has to work)
• La nevera tiene que estar conectada. (The fridge has to be plugged)
• El carro tiene asientos de cuero. (The car has leather seats)

Eso no tiene = it doesn’t have

• El arroz no tiene sal. (The rice does not have salt)
• El edificio no tienen ascensor. (The building doesn’t have an elevator)
• El celular no tiene batería. (The cellphone doesn’t have battery)

Ustedes tienen = you (plural) have

• ¿Ustedes tienen clase? (Do you have class?)
• Ustedes tienen que ir a casa. (You have to go home)
• Ustedes tienen que abordar ya. (You have to board now)

Ustedes no tienen = you (plural) don’t have

• Ustedes no tienen permiso para ingresar. (You don’t have permission to enter)
• Ustedes no tienen muchos animales en la granja. (You don’t have many animals in the farm)
• Ustedes no tienen que comer sopa. (You don’t have to eat soup)

Nosotros tenemos = we have

• Nosotros tenemos que hablar. (We have to talk)
• Joaquín y yo tenemos muchas cosas en común. (Joaquín and I have a lot of things in common)
• Tenemos que salir temprano. (We have to get out early)

Nosotros no tenemos = we don’t have

• Carmen y yo no tenemos listo el reporte aún. (Carmen and I don’t have the report ready yet)
• No tenemos que comprar más vegetales. (We don’t have to buy more vegetables)
• No tenemos tiempo. (We don’t have time)

Ellos tienen = they have

• Ellos tienen que ir a la reunión. (They have to go to a meeting)
• Mis padres tienen pasaportes. (My parents have passports)
• Ellos tienen que trabajar a las 8:00 am. (They have to work at 8:00 am)

Ellos no tienen = they don’t have

• Los niños tienen sed. (The kids are not thirsty)
• Ellos no tienen ojos azules. (They don’t have blue eyes)
• Fernando y Andrea no tienen hijos. (Fernando and Andrea don’t have kids)

Tener Practice

Exercise 1

Creates sentences using tener or tener que:

1. Los doctores……………………………… (atender pacientes). (Doctors_________ see patients)
2. La pizza……………………………….…… (mucho queso). (The pizza_______ a lot of cheese)
3. El abogado………………………….…… (muchos clientes). (The lawyer__________ lots of clients)
4. Los profesores………………………….. (ser muy pacientes). (Teachers____________ be very patient)
5. Una secretaria…………………………… (ser organizada). (A secretary____________ very organized)
6. Tres veces al día…………..…………. (cepillarnos los dientes). (We ________ brush our teeth three times a day)
7. Él………………………………….……………. (una araña en su cabeza). (He __________ a spider on his head)
8. Los niños …………………….……….……(tarea que hacer). (The kids________ homework to do)
9. Un deportista……………………………. (entrenar duro). (A sports person_________ train a lot)
10. Nosotros………………………….……….. (examen la próxima semana). (We ________ an exam next week)

 
Key:

1. tienen que.
2. tiene.
3. tiene.
4. tienen que.
5. tiene que.
6. tenemos que.
7. tiene.
8. tienen.
9. tiene que.
10. tenemos.

 
Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks, using tener or tener que:

1. Joaquín no _________ dinero. (Joaquín________ money)
2. Mi papá____________ levantarse temprano. (My father_________ wake up early)
3. Los niños ______________ ir a la escuela. (The kids _________ go to school)
4. Ella _________ 50 años. (She______ 50 years old)
5. Carlos ____________ comprar vegetales. (Carlos __________ buy vegetables)
6. La hamburguesa ____________ tocineta. (The hamburger__________ bacon)
7. Yo __________ zapatos nuevos. (I ___________ new shoes)
8. Alicia _____________ ir al médico. (Alicia_________ go to the doctor)
9. Enrique ___________ un nuevo trabajo. (Enrique_________ a new job)
10. Joel _____________ llevar a su mamá al médico. (Joel ___________ her mom to the doctor)

 
Key:

1. tiene.
2. tiene que.
3. tienen que.
4. tiene.
5. tiene que.
6. tiene.
7. tengo.
8. tiene que.
9. tiene.
10. tiene que.

 
That’s it! This is a pretty simple concept.
 
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