Tener

The verb tener in Spanish means 'to have'. Tener is also used to form many common expressions
that we use with 'to be' in English.

Conjugating Tener in the Present Tense

Tener is an irregular verb, which means that its conjugations don't follow a common pattern. Since
we use this verb a lot in Spanish, it's a good idea to practice the present tense conjugations so you
can use them quickly.

yo tengo I have nosotros/as tenemos we have

you all (informal; Spain

tú tienes you (informal) have vosotros/as tenéis
only) have

usted/él/ella tien you (formal)/he/she ustedes/ellos/ellas tiene

you all/they have
e has n
You can create sentences by starting with the subject and then using the matching verb form. Since
each verb form has different spellings, we can also omit the subject when it's pretty clear who is
doing the action or who has the item.
Let's say I have a car. I can say Yo tengo un carro. Since the tengo form of tener can only be used
for yo (I), you can leave that word out and say simply Tengo un carro.

Expressions with Tener

Now that you know how to conjugate tener, let's use it to form common expressions in Spanish. In
English we use different verbs to say some of these ideas, so you should study the ideas behind
these expressions instead of trying to translate their meanings word for word.

tener __ años to be __ years old

tener hambre to be hungry

tener sed to be thirsty

tener cuidado to be careful

tener razón to be correct; to be right

tener sueño to be sleepy

tener que to have to

tener ganas to feel like

(de)

tener frío to be cold

tener calor to be hot

tener prisa to be in a hurry

VENIR – TO COME

Conjugation Chart
SPANISH TENSE NAME: Presente       MODE: Indicative
Personal Pronoun Conjugation

Yo vengo

Tu vienes

El/Ella viene

Nosotros venimos

Vosotros venís

Ellos/Ellas vienen