¿Cuántos años tienes? Tengo veinte años.How old are you? I'm twenty.
tener literally means "to have," but Spanish leans on it for far more than possession — age, physical and emotional states, and a long list of fixed everyday expressions all use tener where English reaches for "to be."
Quick shortcut: tengo (I have), tienes (you have, informal), tenés (you have, informal — vos), tiene (he/she/it has, you have formally), tenemos (we have), tenéis (you all have, Spain), tienen (they/you all have).
Conjugation
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tengo | Yo tengo un perro. (I have a dog.) |
| tú | tienes | Tú tienes una idea genial. (You have a great idea.) |
| vos | tenés | Vos tenés una idea genial. (You have a great idea.) |
| usted / él / ella | tiene | Ella tiene dos hermanos. (She has two brothers.) |
| nosotros/as | tenemos | Nosotros tenemos tiempo. (We have time.) |
| vosotros/as | tenéis | Vosotros tenéis razón. (You all are right.) |
| ustedes / ellos / ellas | tienen | Ellos tienen un coche nuevo. (They have a new car.) |
tener mixes two kinds of irregularity. The yo form (tengo) inserts a g that none of the other forms have. tú, usted/él/ella, and ustedes/ellos/ellas all change the stem vowel e → ie (tienes, tiene, tienen), while nosotros/as and vosotros/as keep the plain e (tenemos, tenéis) — the same stem-changing pattern you'll meet again in other verbs. Unlike estar, where vos just reuses the tú form, tener's vos form drops the diphthong and takes its own ending: tenés, not tienes.
Possession
The most direct use — having or owning something:
- Tengo un libro nuevo. (I have a new book.)
- ¿Tienes hermanos? (Do you have siblings?)
- No tenemos dinero. (We don't have money.)
Age
Spanish states age with tener + a number + años, not with "to be" the way English does:
- Tengo veinte años. (I am twenty years old.)
- Mi hermano tiene quince años. (My brother is fifteen.)
- ¿Cuántos años tiene usted? (How old are you?)
Physical and emotional states
A large group of set expressions pair tener with a noun (no article) to describe how someone feels — English usually says "to be" here instead:
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tener hambre | to be hungry |
| tener sed | to be thirsty |
| tener sueño | to be sleepy |
| tener frío | to be cold |
| tener calor | to be hot |
| tener miedo | to be afraid |
| tener prisa | to be in a hurry |
| tener razón | to be right |
| tener cuidado | to be careful |
| tener ganas de + infinitive | to feel like doing something |
- Tengo hambre. ¿Comemos? (I'm hungry. Shall we eat?)
- Ten cuidado, la calle está mojada. (Be careful, the street is wet.)
- Tenemos ganas de viajar. (We feel like traveling.)
Because the noun after tener carries the meaning ("hunger," "fear," "a hurry"), it's graded rather than switched on or off: mucha hambre (very hungry), un poco de miedo (a little afraid) — not muy hambre, which would treat the noun like an adjective.
A preview: tener que
tener que + infinitive expresses obligation — Tengo que estudiar ("I have to study"). Building and using it properly, alongside its close relative hay que, is its own lesson: tener que / hay que + infinitive.
Common mistakes
- ❌ Yo soy veinte años. → ✅ Yo tengo veinte años. (age uses tener, not ser — a frequent calque from languages that use "to be" for age)
- ❌ Estoy hambre. → ✅ Tengo hambre. (these fixed states use tener + noun, not estar + adjective)
- ❌ Tengo muy hambre. → ✅ Tengo mucha hambre. (the expression's noun takes mucho/a, not muy — muy only modifies adjectives)
- ❌ Yo teno un perro. → ✅ Yo tengo un perro. (the yo form inserts a g: tengo, not a regular -o ending)
- ❌ Mixing up tiene and tienen: Mis padres tiene un coche. → ✅ Mis padres tienen un coche. (match the verb form to the subject's number)
Quick check
Which form fits?
- Yo ____ dos gatos. (tengo / tienes)
- ¿Cuántos años ____ tú? (tiene / tienes)
- Nosotros ____ mucha hambre. (tenemos / tienen)
- Ella ____ veinte años. (tengo / tiene)
- Ellos ____ prisa. (tiene / tienen)
Show answers
- tengo 2. tienes 3. tenemos 4. tiene 5. tienen
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Key takeaways
- tener conjugates: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen — g-insertion in yo; e → ie stem change in tú, usted/él/ella, and ustedes/ellos/ellas, while nosotros/as, vosotros/as, and vos all keep the plain e.
- Unlike estar, tener's vos form isn't the same as tú's: it's tenés, not tienes.
- Use it for possession, for stating age (tener + number + años), and for a long list of fixed expressions (tener hambre, sed, miedo, prisa, razón, cuidado, ganas de) where English says "to be."
- Those fixed expressions take mucho/a, not muy, since they're built on a noun, not an adjective.
- tener que + infinitive, for obligation, is its own lesson.