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'Tener'

'Tener' means 'to have' in Spanish. This verb does NOT follow a single pattern like other irregular verbs:

Uses of 'Tener'

As well as being the verb 'to have', 'tener' has a lot of other uses in Spanish.

Age

Age

  • In Spanish, rather than say 'I am 15 years old', you say 'I have 15 years.
    • ¿Cuántos años tienes? (How old are you?).
    • Tengo quince años. (I am 15).
Hungry or thirsty

Hungry or thirsty

  • Similarly to age, in Spanish instead of saying 'I am hungry' you would say 'I have hunger'.
    • Flora tiene hambre. (Flora is hungry).
    • Tengo sed. (I am thirsty).
To have to

To have to

  • In Spanish you use 'tener' + 'que' as a way to say 'something is necessary'.
    • Tengo que cerrar la ventana
      • I have to close the window.
  • 'Tener que' is always followed by an infinitive.
Jump to other topics
1

Phonics/Alphabet/Spellings

2

My Family & I

3

Time

4

Home

5

Body & Illness

6

Relationships

7

Customs & Festivals

8

School

9

Jobs

10

Town & Shopping

11

Food & Health Life

12

Free Time

13

Social Media

14

Holiday

15

The World Around Us

16

Present Tense

17

Past Tense

18

Future Tense

19

Conditional

20

Grammar

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