español · A1 · verb · 4 minutes
Tener in the present
Express possession, age, sensations, and everyday needs.
Understand the choice
Tener expresses possession, but it also builds essential phrases for age, hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fear, and obligation. Learn the six forms with one useful expression each.
Core rule: Tener means to have and is irregular in the present: tengo has -g-, while tienes and tiene change e to ie.
Notice it in context
Tengo dos hermanas y tenemos un perro.
I have two sisters and we have a dog.
Tengo matches yo; tenemos keeps the stem vowel e without the e-to-ie change.
¿Cuántos años tienes?
How old are you?
Spanish asks how many years you have, using tienes.
Ellos tienen hambre y sed.
They are hungry and thirsty.
Tener combines with the nouns hambre and sed, not adjectives.
What to remember
- Tener que + infinitive expresses obligation: tengo que salir.
- Nosotros and vosotros forms do not take the stem change: tenemos, tenéis.
Common trap: Do not use ser or estar for age and common physical sensations; say tengo veinte años and tengo frío.