Tener conjugation in every tense, with tener que and tener hambre
Tener means “to have”, and Spanish speakers use it for more than English speakers do. You use it for hunger, cold, fear and age: tengo hambre, tengo frío, tengo treinta años. For obligation, use tener que: tengo que irme. Below: every tense of tener in tables and the expressions built on it.
The full table is also on the tener conjugation page, where you can type every form of tener from memory and see which ones you got wrong.
When to use tener
Use tener for possession and relationships: Tengo un coche, Tiene dos hermanos, ¿Tienes tiempo?
Use tener for age: Tengo treinta años, “I’m thirty”. ¿Cuántos años tienes? is “How old are you?”
Use tener que with an infinitive for obligation, “have to”: Tengo que trabajar mañana.
Use tener with a noun for many physical and emotional states where in English you say “be”: Tengo hambre (I’m hungry), Tengo frío (I’m cold), Tengo miedo (I’m scared).
Use haber, not tener, as the helper in perfect tenses: He comido, never tengo comido.
Present
The present has a g in the yo form and a stem change from e to ie in three forms: tienes, tiene, tienen.
| Person | tener | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tengo | I have |
| tú | tienes | you have |
| vos | tenés | you have |
| él, ella, usted | tiene | he, she has / you have |
| nosotros, nosotras | tenemos | we have |
| vosotros, vosotras | tenéis | you have (Spain) |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | tienen | they have / you have |
Vos has no stem change: tenés, not tienés.
Preterite
In the preterite, the stem is tuv- and there are no written accents.
| Person | tener | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tuve | I had, I got |
| tú, vos | tuviste | you had |
| él, ella, usted | tuvo | he, she had / you had |
| nosotros | tuvimos | we had |
| vosotros | tuvisteis | you had (Spain) |
| ellos, ustedes | tuvieron | they had / you had |
Use the preterite for something you had or got at one moment: Tuve una idea, “I had an idea”. Tuvo un accidente is “He had an accident”.
Imperfect
The imperfect is regular.
| Person | tener | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tenía | I had, I used to have |
| tú, vos | tenías | you had |
| él, ella, usted | tenía | he, she had / you had |
| nosotros | teníamos | we had |
| vosotros | teníais | you had (Spain) |
| ellos, ustedes | tenían | they had / you had |
Use the imperfect for what you had over a period and for age in the past: Tenía un perro de pequeño, “I had a dog as a child”. Cuando tenía diez años is “When I was ten”.
Tuve que and tenía que differ. Tuve que irme is “I had to leave”, and I did. Tenía que irme is “I had to leave” or “I was supposed to leave”, and you cannot tell from it whether I did.
Future and conditional
Both have the irregular stem tendr-.
| Person | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tendré | tendría |
| tú, vos | tendrás | tendrías |
| él, ella, usted | tendrá | tendría |
| nosotros | tendremos | tendríamos |
| vosotros | tendréis | tendríais |
| ellos, ustedes | tendrán | tendrían |
Tendrá unos cuarenta años is “He must be about forty”, a guess. Tendrías que descansar is “You ought to rest”.
Present subjunctive
Built on the yo present, teng-.
| Person | tener |
|---|---|
| yo | tenga |
| tú, vos | tengas |
| él, ella, usted | tenga |
| nosotros | tengamos |
| vosotros | tengáis |
| ellos, ustedes | tengan |
¡Que tengas un buen día! is “Have a good day!” Aquí tiene and Tenga are what a shop assistant says when handing you something.
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | -ra form | -se form |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tuviera | tuviese |
| tú, vos | tuvieras | tuvieses |
| él, ella, usted | tuviera | tuviese |
| nosotros | tuviéramos | tuviésemos |
| vosotros | tuvierais | tuvieseis |
| ellos, ustedes | tuvieran | tuviesen |
Si tuviera tiempo, iría is “If I had time, I’d go”.
Commands
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | ten | no tengas |
| vos | tené | no tengas |
| usted | tenga | no tenga |
| vosotros | tened | no tengáis |
| ustedes | tengan | no tengan |
Ten cuidado is “Be careful”. No tengas miedo is “Don’t be afraid”. Tené paciencia is “Be patient” in Argentina.
Compound tenses
The participle is tenido and the gerund is teniendo: He tenido suerte, “I’ve been lucky”. Habría tenido tiempo is “I would have had time”.
Verbs conjugated like tener
Mantener (maintain, support), obtener (obtain), contener (contain), detener (stop, arrest), sostener (hold), entretener (entertain) and retener (retain) follow tener in every tense: mantengo, obtuve, detendrá. Their tú commands have a written accent: mantén, detén.
Tener expressions
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I’m hungry | Tengo hambre. | Hambre is feminine: mucha hambre |
| I’m thirsty | Tengo sed. | |
| I’m cold | Tengo frío. | |
| I’m hot | Tengo calor. | Not estoy caliente, see below |
| I’m sleepy | Tengo sueño. | |
| I’m scared of… | Tengo miedo de… | or le tengo miedo a… |
| I’m in a hurry | Tengo prisa. | See regional notes |
| You’re right | Tienes razón. | No tienes razón, you’re wrong |
| I’m lucky | Tengo suerte. | |
| Be careful | Ten cuidado. | |
| I feel like… | Tengo ganas de… | + infinitive or noun |
| I’m embarrassed | Tengo vergüenza. | |
| I’m jealous | Tengo celos. | |
| I’m thirty | Tengo treinta años. | |
| I have to… | Tengo que… | + infinitive |
| It has nothing to do with… | No tiene nada que ver con… | |
| It takes place | Tiene lugar | Formal |
| Bear in mind | Tener en cuenta | |
| I have no idea | No tengo ni idea. | |
| What’s wrong? | ¿Qué tienes? | Asking someone who looks unwell or upset |
Use mucho and mucha for “very”, matching the noun: Tengo mucho frío, Tengo mucha sed, Tengo mucha hambre.
Tengo calor is “I’m hot”. With estoy caliente you describe the temperature of something to the touch and, about a person, is commonly understood as sexually aroused. Say tengo calor.
Tener que and hay que
Tener que is a personal obligation: Tengo que llamar a mi madre. Hay que is general, “one has to”: Hay que reservar con antelación, “You have to book in advance”. Hay que never changes for person.
Worked examples
- Tengo dos hijos. I have two children.
- ¿Tienes hambre? Are you hungry?
- Mi abuela tiene noventa años. My grandmother is ninety.
- Tengo que irme. I have to go.
- No tengo ni idea. I have no idea.
- Tienes razón, lo siento. You’re right, I’m sorry.
- Tengo muchas ganas de verte. I’m really looking forward to seeing you.
- ¿Tiene habitaciones libres? Do you have any rooms available? (usted)
- Ayer tuve una reunión muy larga. Yesterday I had a very long meeting.
- Cuando tenía veinte años, vivía en Lima. When I was twenty, I lived in Lima.
- Tendrás que esperar un poco. You’ll have to wait a bit.
- Si tuviera más dinero, tendría un piso más grande. If I had more money, I’d have a bigger flat. (Spain)
Common mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Soy 25 años. | Tengo 25 años. | Use tener for age. |
| Estoy hambre. | Tengo hambre. | Hunger is a noun you have. |
| Tengo mucho hambre. | Tengo mucha hambre. | Hambre is feminine. |
| Estoy caliente. (meaning hot weather) | Tengo calor. | See the note above. |
| Tengo a ir. | Tengo que ir. | Obligation is tener que. |
| Teneré. | Tendré. | The future stem is tendr-. |
| Yo tení. | Yo tuve. | The preterite is irregular. |
| Tengo comido. | He comido. | Use haber in perfect tenses. |
Regional notes
Vos tenés. In Argentina: ¿Tenés hora?, “Do you have the time?” ¿Cuántos años tenés?, “How old are you?”
In a hurry. Tengo prisa is standard in Spain and understood everywhere. In Argentina you will often hear estoy apurado or estoy apurada, and in Colombia tengo afán.
Hungover. In Spain people say tengo resaca. In Colombia, tengo guayabo. In Mexico, estoy crudo.
Vosotros tenéis. Only in Spain do people use vosotros: ¿Tenéis mesa para cuatro? Elsewhere the group form is ustedes: ¿Tienen mesa para cuatro?
Tener with people. With tener, leave out the personal a for family and relationships: Tengo dos hermanos. With a specific person in a situation, you add it: Tengo a mi madre en el hospital, “My mother is in hospital”.
Practise it
The Vozelu grammar course has a lesson called “Tener for feelings and states”. To take it, create an account. In the lesson you read the tener expressions for hunger, cold, fear, age and more, then you type them in full sentences and are told what you got wrong, including gender agreement with mucho and mucha.
Questions people ask
What are the forms of tener in the present tense? Tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. With vos, tenés.
Why do you say “tengo hambre” and not “estoy hambriento”? In Spanish, hunger is something you have. Estoy hambriento exists but sounds dramatic, like “I’m starving”.
What is the difference between tener que and deber? Both mean “have to” or “must”. Tener que is more common in speech and often more external: Tengo que trabajar. Deber sounds more like a moral duty: Debes decir la verdad.
What is the preterite of tener? Tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron.
How do you say “how old are you” in Spanish? ¿Cuántos años tienes?, or ¿Cuántos años tiene? with usted. Answer with Tengo…años.
What does “¿qué tienes?” mean? “What’s wrong?” or “What’s the matter?” You ask it to find out how someone feels. To ask what someone has in their hand, add context: ¿Qué tienes en la mano?
Is it “tengo frío” or “estoy frío”? Tengo frío for how you feel. With estoy frío you would describe your body temperature to the touch, and that is rarely what you mean.