One of the most common verbs in the Spanish language is tener. It means ‘to have,’ and is one of the most useful verbs!
In this article, we’ll be looking at some expressions in the Spanish language that involve the word tener!
Conjugation of tener
There’s not enough room here to conjugate tener in every verb tense, but here’s the present tense conjugation to get you started.
| tengo | tenemos |
| tienes | tenéis |
| tiene | tienen |
Phrases where tener is used as ‘to be’
There are lots of phrases in Spanish that use the verb tener, where in English we’d use the verb ‘to be.’ So if you want to say, for example, ‘I am 30 years old,’ make sure you say, ‘Tengo 30 años.’ You won’t make much sense if you say, ‘Soy 30 años.’
For my fellow grammar fans: Note that the Spanish phrases use ‘to have’ + a noun, whereas the English ones use ‘to be’ + an adjective.
Literal meaning: To have X years
Meaning: To be X years old
| Carlota, ¿cuántos años tienes? —Tengo 18 años. ¿Y tú? | Carlota, how old are you? I’m 18 years old. And you? |
Literal meaning: To have heat
Meaning: To be (feeling) hot
| Espero que haya aire acondicionado en el hotel. Tengo mucho calor. | I hope there’s air conditioning in the hotel. I’m very hot. |
Literal meaning: To have cold
Meaning: To be (feeling) cold
| Si tienes frÃo, ponte el abrigo. | If you’re cold, put your coat on. |
Literal meaning: To have hunger
Meaning: To be hungry
| Suelo tener hambre cuando me despierto. | I’m always hungry when I wake up. |
Literal meaning: To have thirst
Meaning: To be thirsty
| ¿Me pones un vaso de agua? Tengo sed. | Could you get me a glass of water? I’m thirsty. |
Literal meaning: To have sleep
Meaning: To be sleepy
| Mamá, tengo sueño pero no me quiero acostar. | Mommy, I’m sleepy but I don’t want to go to bed. |
Literal meaning: To have haste
Meaning: To be in a hurry
| Que no me hable nadie, tengo prisa. | Nobody speak to me, I’m in a hurry. |
Literal meaning: To have fear
Meaning: To be scared
| Tenemos miedo de que la policÃa se entere de lo que hemos hecho. | We’re scared that the police will find out what we’ve done. |
Literal meaning: To have success
Meaning: To be successful/to have success
| Tener éxito no es tener dinero; es estar feliz. | To be successful isn’t to have money; it’s to be happy. |
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Literal meaning: To have luck
Meaning: To be lucky/to have luck
| Marcus siempre ha tenido suerte. ¡Ayer ganó la loterÃa! | Marcus has always been lucky. Last night he won the lottery! |
Literal meaning: To have jealousy/to have envy
Meaning: To be jealous/to be envious
| La razón por la que no le gusto a Nadia es que ella tiene celos. | The reason that Nadia doesn’t like me is that she’s jealous. |
Literal meaning: To have care
Meaning: To be careful
| En este barrio, hay que tener cuidado al andar por la noche. | In this neighborhood, you have to be careful when walking at night. |
Literal meaning: To have shame
Meaning: To be ashamed
| Kurt sedujo a Doris, la examinadora, para aprobar el examen de conducir. Ahora tiene mucha vergüenza. | Kurt seduced Doris, the examiner, to pass the driving test. Now he feels very ashamed. |
Literal meaning: To have reason
Meaning: To be right
| El cliente siempre tiene la razón. | The customer is always right. |
Literal meaning: To have the blame
Meaning: To be at fault
| Fuiste tú que me engañaste a mÃ. Asà que ni te atreves a decir que yo tenga la culpa. | It was you who cheated on me. So don’t you dare say that this is my fault. |
Idiomatic phrases
Lots of idioms and sayings use the word tener. A lot of the time, the direct translation isn’t going to make that much sense, so prepare to have a chuckle at these…
Literal meaning: To have bad fleas
Meaning: To have a bad temper
| No le gusta la nueva profesora a nadie porque tiene muy malas pulgas. | Nobody likes the new teacher because she has a very bad temper. |
Literal meaning: To not have (even) a hair of foolishness
Meaning: To be nobody’s fool
| Pedro intentó mentirle a Isabel, pero ella no tiene ni un pelo de tonto. | Pedro tried to lie to Isabel, but she is nobody’s fool. |
Literal meaning: To have the nerves rigid
Meaning: To be on edge
| Hoy Doris me dará el resultado del examen. Tengo los nervios de punta. | Today Doris will give me the exam result. I’m on edge. |
Literal meaning: To have (something) on the tip of the tongue
Meaning: To have (something) on the tip of one’s tongue
| ¿Cómo se llamaba ese profesor que nos gustó? —¡Ay, no lo sé! Tengo su nombre en la punta de la lengua. | What was the name of that teacher we liked? Ooh, I don’t know! His name is on the tip of my tongue. |
Literal meaning: To have wood for
Meaning: To have what it takes for/to be born to
| Para su edad, Ignacio nada increÃblemente bien. Yo creo que tiene madera para nadar competitivamente. | For his age, Ignacio swims incredibly well. I think he has what it takes to swim competitively. |
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Literal meaning: To have bad face
Meaning: To look bad/ill
| Abuela, ¿estás bien? Tienes mala cara. —Me encuentro un poco mareada pero estoy bien. | Grandma, are you okay? You don’t look so good. I’m feeling a little faint but I’m okay. |
Literal meaning: To not have a name
Meaning: To be unspeakable/terrible
| ¡Lo que Julio le hizo a Roberto no tiene nombre! | What Julio did to Roberto is unspeakable! |
Literal meaning: To not have a place to fall dead
Meaning: To be penniless/To not have a penny to one’s name
| Hace muchos años, yo era jefa de una compañÃa exitosa, pero ahora no tengo donde caerme muerta. | Many years ago, I was the boss of a successful company, but now I don’t have a penny to my name. |
Short but useful phrases
The following ‘tener’-isms aren’t as wordy as the ones above, but they are super useful, and pretty common!
Literal meaning: To have place
Meaning: To take place
| La fiesta tendrá lugar en marzo. | The party will take place in March. |
Literal meaning: To have that
Meaning: To have to
| Tienes que hacer tus deberes. | You have to do your homework. |
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Literal meaning: To have wishes of
Meaning: To feel like
| Tengo ganas de ir al parque. ¿Te apuntas? | I feel like going to the park. Are you up for coming? |
Literal meaning: To have in account
Meaning: To keep in mind/To take into account
| Ten en cuenta que esto es su primer trabajo. | Bear in mind that this is her first job. |
Literal meaning: To have that to see with
Meaning: To have to do with
| La discusión tenÃa que ver con la polÃtica. | The argument had something to do with politics. |
Literal meaning: To have thought
Meaning: To have in mind as a plan
| Tengo pensado ir al cine hoy. | I plan to go to the cinema today. |
Literal meaning: To have clear
Meaning: To be clear on/to be sure
| No tengo claro lo de la trigonometrÃa. | I’m not clear on the trigonometry stuff. |
Quiz
Let’s see if you remember some of these neat little phrases. Simply fill in the blanks!
1. ¿Podemos comer ya? Es que tengo _. (Can we eat now? Because I’m hungry.)
Answer: hambre
2. Deseo que tengas _ al fin y al cabo. (I hope you are successful in the end.)
Answer: éxito
3. Tengo _. Siempre. (I’m right. Always.)
Answer: (la) razón
4. Desde que me robaron, suelo _. (Since I got mugged, I’m always on edge.)
Answer: tener los nervios de punta
5. Si malgastas todo tu dinero en drogas, terminarás no teniendo _. (If you waste all your money on drugs, you’ll end up penniless.)
Answer: donde caerte muerto/a.
6. No puedo salir porque tengo _ limpiar la casa. (I can’t go out because I have to clean the house.)
Answer: que
7. Has estado muy callado. ¿Tiene _ los resultados de las pruebas del hospital? (You’ve been very quiet. Does it have to do with the test results from the hospital?)
Answer: que ver con
8. Tengo _ lo que tengo _ hacer. (I know exactly what I have to do.)
Answer: claro; que
So there you ~have~ it!
Hopefully these phrases have given you a variety of new ways to use tener, one of the most important Spanish verbs! ¡Hasta la próxima!
