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SPANISH | verb "tener"

Posted 2007-08-30 10:05:32 | Comments (4) Word of the moment

Verb "Tener"

I`ve been analyzing the use for verb "Tener" in spanish, and I think it`s one of the most helpful verbs that spanish has. The common translation is "To Have", but "Tener" is used in a big variety of idiomatic expressions to indicate emotions or states of being. Like many other commonly used verbs, tener is irregular. Following there is the conjugation of "Tener".

	Present	Past (preterite)	Past (imperfect)	Future
yo	*tengo* (I have)	*tuve* (I had)	tenía (I used to have)	*tendré* (I will have)
tú	*tienes* (you have)	*tuviste* (you had)	tenías (you used to have)	*tendrás* (you will have)
él, ella, usted	*tiene* (he has, she has, you have)	*tuvo* (he had, she had, you had)	tenía (he used to have, she used to have, you used to have)	*tendrá* (he will have, she will have, you will have)
nosotros, nosotras	tenemos (we have)	*tuvimos* (we had)	teníamos (we used to have)	*tendremos* (we will have)
vosotros, vosotras	tenéis (you have)	*tuvisteis* (you had)	teníais (you used to have)	*tendréis* (you will have)
ellos, ellas, ustedes	*tienen* (they have)	*tuvieron* (they had)	tenían (they used to have)	*tendrán* (he will have, she will have)

Expressions using tener are quite common. Many of them would not be understood by English speakers to indicate possession. For example, tener hambre, would be translated literally as "to have hunger," although it would normally understood as "to be hungry." The following listing, which is far from complete, shows various uses of tener:

*tener*	to have	Tengo tres hijos. (I have three children.)
*tener ____ años*	to be ____ years old	Tiene 4 años. (She is 4 years old.)
*tener calor*	to be hot	¿Tienes calor? (Are you hot?)
*tener cuidado*	to be careful	¡Ten cuidado! (Be careful!)
*tener la culpa*	to be at fault	Mi madre dice que tengo la culpa. (My mother says it's my fault.)
*tener éxito*	to be successful	Mi hermano tiene mucho éxito. (My brother is very successful.)
*tener frío*	to be cold	Los exploradores tendrán frío. (The explorers will be cold.)
*tener hambre*	to be hungry	Los niños siempre tienen hambre. (The children are always hungry.)
*tener miedo*	to be afraid	El paracaidista no tenía miedo. (The parachute jumper wasn't afraid.)
*tener prisa*	to be in a hurry	Mi hija nunca tiene prisa. (My daughter is never in a hurry.)
tener que + infinitive	to have to	Tengo que salir. (I have to leave.)
*tener razón, no tener razón*	to be right, to be wrong	Tengo razón. No tienes razón. (I'm right. You're wrong.)
*tener sed*	to be thirsty	Los camellos no tienen sed. (The camels aren't thirsty.)
*tener suerte*	to be lucky	Los ganadores tenían suerte. (The winners were lucky.)

Besides last examples, there are a lot of idiomatic spanish expressions using "tener". but studying some examples you could catch an idea to use this verb... So, "Tener" is a very used and helpful verb... I think one of the most commons.

If you wanna practice with "Tener" you could send me some examples and then I check them out to find mistakes and help you to improve... don`t hesitate to do it ...

Tener - To have

wow Lost, esta bien pro tu blog del verbo tener =DDD me elegra mucho! ;) ojalá sigas posteando más blogs así, seguro le van a ayudar mucho a la gente que esté aprendiendo español ;) ;) ;)

Posted by belen Sep 1st 2007

Posted by Nacci Sep 1st 2007

Lost: Muy buena la explicación. Te doy una regla que te puede ayudar mucho. El verbo "tener" muchas veces se usa en expresiones que en inglés tienen el verbo "To Be". Vos ya lo dijiste en tus ejemplos:
yo tengo 25 años - I am 25 years old
Tengo frío - I am cold

Es importante saber bien usar este verbo y poder diferenciarlo de otros como "ser" y "estar".

Lost, could you explain the use of the verb "estar?.
Saludos.

Posted by Nacci Sep 1st 2007

gracias Nacci... estoy preparando el verbo -to be- thanks a lot =)

Posted by lost Sep 6th 2007

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