The Verb ‘Tener’ – a Special Irregular The verb ‘tener’ is an –ER verb. However, its conjugation is not regular, as depicted in the table below. Table of Conjugations of ‘Tener’ in the Present Simple Tense: Spanish English Yo Tengo I have Tú Tienes You have Él/Ella/Ud. Tiene He/She/you-formal has Nosotros/as Tenemos We have Vosotros/as Tenéis Not used in Latin America Ellos/Ellas/Uds. Tienen They/you-all have     Comparison to English The verb ‘to have’ in English has two distinct uses: a. To be an owner of something, e.g. to have something the Spanish equivalent is the verb ‘Tener’. b. As an auxiliary verb in perfect tenses the Spanish equivalent is not ‘Tener’, but rather ‘Haber’, which we will discuss in the chapters dealing with perfect tenses. 1. They have a yellow car Ellos tienen un carro amarillo 2. I don’t have time right now No tengo tiempo ahora   Idiomatic Expressions Using the Verb ‘Tener’ An idiom is an expression that cannot be immediately understood by analyzing its literal meaning. The table below shows how conjugations of the verb ‘Tener’ along with certain nouns produce idiomatic expressions. This is another use of the verb ‘Tener.’   Spanish   Literal meaning English (TENER) Tengo Tienes Tiene Tenemos Tienen Éxito   To have success To succeed Calor   To have heat To be hot Costumbre   To have a habit To be used to Cuidado   To have caution To be careful Frío   To have cold To be cold   Hambre   To have hunger To be hungry Miedo   To have fear To be afraid Prisa   To have haste To be in a hurry Razón   To have reason To be right Sed   To have thirst To be thirsty Sueño   To have dream To be sleepy   Suerte   To have luck To be lucky   Pereza   To have laziness To be lazy Rabia   To have anger To be angry Vergüenza   To have shame To be ashamed 15 años   To have 15 years To be 15 years old   1. He succeeds (Él) tiene éxito 2. We are hungry (Nosotros) tenemos hambre 3. You-all are right, she is cold and hungry (Uds.) tienen razón, ella tiene frío y (tiene) hambre 4. She is 30 years old Ella tiene treinta años

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