_____ Cuidado. Tengas Tener Tenga Ten

In this lesson, you will learn all there is to know about conjugatingtener

. You’ll also learn how to use the verb phrase


tener que


in Spanish and will discover the different meanings of this Spanish verb
. Ready? Let’s dive into it!

Tener


in Spanish

Tener


in English is eitherto

have


orto

be.


It is translated as
to


have


when it means “to possess” in Spanish. For example, “Yo tengo una casa” is “I have a house” in English.

In the following

expressions,tener
meansto be:

tener calor	to be hot
tener celos	to be jealous
tener cuidado	to be careful
tener frío	to be cold
tener razón	to be right
tener sed	to be thirsty
tener hambre	to be hungry
tener verguenza	to be ashamed

How to Conjugate


Tener


in Spanish

Below you’ll find the proper conjugation of tener. We used the current verb conjugation reference of


tener


provided by the

Royal Spanish Academy (RAE)
. Since they only include simple Spanish tenses in their reference because of space limitations, we have added the conjugations of both simple and compound Spanish tenses in this guide.

Spanish Verbals of


Tener

Infinitive	tener
Gerund	teniendo
Participle	tenido

Indicative Mood

I’ll give you a tip to help you always conjugate the


tener


preterite right! Do you already know the preterite of


estar

? Then, just eliminate the first two letters (
es
) from all the forms of the


estar


preterite. For example, “yo

es
tuve” becomes “yo tuve”. That’s it! Now you have the correctly conjugated preterite of


tener.

Tiempos Simples

– Simple Tenses

Presente

– Present Tense Conjugation

yo tengo	I have
tú tienes vos tenés (South American)	you have
él/ella/usted tiene	he/she has you (formal) have
nosotros/nosotras tenemos	we have
vosotros/vosotras tenéis ustedes tienen	you (plural) have
ellos/ellas tienen	they have

Pretérito Imperfecto

– Imperfect Tense Conjugation

yo tenía	I had
tú tenías vos tenías (South American)	you had
él/ella/usted tenía	he/she/you (formal) had
nosotros/nosotras teníamos	we had
vosotros/vosotras teníais ustedes tenían	you (plural) had
ellos/ellas tenían	they had

Pretérito Perfecto

– Preterite Tense Conjugation

yo tuve	I had
tú tuviste vos tuviste (South American)	you had
él/ella/usted tuvo	he/she/you (formal) had
nosotros/nosotras tuvimos	we had
vosotros/vosotras tuvisteis ustedes tuvieron	you (plural) had
ellos/ellas tuvieron	they had

Futuro

– Future Tense Conjugation

yo tendré	I will have
tú tendrás vos tendrás (South American)	you will have
él/ella/usted tendrá	he/she/you (formal) will have
nosotros/nosotras tendremos	we will have
vosotros/vosotras tendréis ustedes tendrán	you (plural) will have
ellos/ellas tendrán	they will have

Condicional

– Conditional Tense Conjugation

yo tendría	I would have
tú tendrías vos tendrías (South American)	you would have
él/ella/usted tendría	he/she/you (formal) would have
nosotros/nosotras tendríamos	we would have
vosotros/vosotras tendríais ustedes tendrían	you (plural) would have
ellos/ellas tendrán	they would have

Tiempos Compuestos

– Compound Tenses

Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto

– Preterite (Present) Perfect Tense Conjugation

yo he tenido	I have had
tú has tenido vos has tenido (South American)	you have had
él/ella/usted ha tenido	he/she has had you (formal) have had
nosotros/nosotras hemos tenido	we have had
vosotros/vosotras habéis tenido ustedes han tenido	you (plural) have had
ellos/ellas han tenido	they have had

Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto

– Pluperfect Tense Conjugation

yo había tenido	I had had
tú habías tenido vos habías tenido (South American)	you had had
él/ella/usted había tenido	he/she/you (formal) had had
nosotros/nosotras habíamos tenido	we had had
vosotros/vosotras habíais tenido ustedes habían tenido	you (plural) had had
ellos/ellas habían tenido	they had had

Pretérito Anterior

– Preterite Perfect Tense Conjugation

yo hube tenido	I had had
tú hubiste tenido vos hubiste tenido (South American)	you had had
él/ella/usted hubo tenido	he/she/you (formal) had had
nosotros/nosotras hubimos tenido	we had had
vosotros/vosotras hubisteis tenido ustedes hubieron tenido	you (plural) had had
ellos/ellas habían tenido	they had had

Futuro Compuesto

– Future Perfect Tense Conjugation

yo habré tenido	I will have had
tú habrás tenido vos habrás tenido (South American)	you will have had
él/ella/usted habrá tenido	he/she/ you (formal) will have had
nosotros/nosotras habremos tenido	we will have had
vosotros/vosotras habréis tenido ustedes habrán tenido	you (plural) will have had
ellos/ellas habrán tenido	they will have had

Condicional Compuesto

– Conditional Perfect Tense Conjugation

yo habría tenido	I would have had
tú habrías tenido voshabrías tenido (South American)	you would have had
él/ella/usted habría tenido	he/she/you (formal) would have had
nosotros/nosotras habríamos tenido	we would have had
vosotros/vosotras habríais tenido ustedes habrían tenido	you (plural) would have had
ellos/ellas habrían tenido	they would have had

Subjunctive Mood

Do you remember the tip I gave you about conjugating the


tener


preterite in the indicative mood? The same happens here! Eliminate the letters “es” from the


estar


preterite and you’ll get the preterite of


tener.


When conjugating in the subjunctive mood, “yo

es
tuviera” becomes “yo tuviera”.

Tiempos Simples

– Simple Tenses

Presente

– Present Tense Conjugation

yo tenga	I have
tú tengas vos tengas (South American)	you have
él/ella/usted tenga	he/she has you (formal) have
nosotros/nosotras tengamos	we have
vosotros/vosotras tengáis ustedes tengan	you (plural) have
ellos/ellas tengan	they have

Pretérito Imperfecto

– Imperfect Tense Conjugation

yo tuviera (or tuviese)	I had
tú tuvieras (or tuvieses) vos tuvieras (or tuvieses) (South American)	you had
él/ella/usted tuviera (or tuviese)	he/she/you (formal) had
nosotros/nosotras tuviéramos (or tuviésemos)	we had
vosotros/vosotras tuvierais (or tuvieseis) ustedes tuvieran (or tuviesen)	you (plural) had
ellos/ellas tuvieran (or tuviesen)	they had

Futuro

– Future Tense Conjugation

• yo tuviere
• tú tuvieres
• vos tuvieres
• él/ella/usted tuviere
• nosotros/nosotras tuviéremos
• vosotros/vosotras tuviereis
• ustedes tuvieren
• ellos/ellas tuvieren

(no direct English translation)

Tiempos Compuestos

– Compound Tenses

Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto

– Preterite (Present) Perfect Tense Conjugation

yo haya tenido	I have had
tú hayas tenido vos hayas tenido (South American)	you have had
él/ella/usted haya tenido	he/she has had you (formal) have had
nosotros/nosotras hayamos tenido	we have had
vosotros/vosotras hayáis tenido ustedes hayan tenido	you (plural) have had
ellos/ellas hayan tenido	they have had

Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto

– Pluperfect Tense Conjugation

yo hubiera (or hubiese) tenido	I had had
tú hubieras (or hubieses) tenido vos hubieras (or hubieses) tenido (South American)	you had had
él/ella/usted hubiera (or hubiese) tenido	he/she/you (formal) had had
nosotros/nosotras hubiéramos (or hubiésemos) tenido	we had had
vosotros/vosotras hubierais (or hubieseis) tenido ustedes hubieran (or hubiesen) tenid	you (plural) had had
ellos/ellas hubieran (or hubiesen) tenido	they had had

Futuro Compuesto

– Future Perfect Tense Conjugation

• yo hubiere tenido
• tú hubieres tenido
• vos hubieres tenido
• él/ella/usted hubiere tenido
• nosotros/nosotras hubiéremos tenido
• vosotros/vosotras hubiereis tenido
• ustedes hubieren tenido
• ellos/ellas hubieren tenido

(no direct English translation)

Imperative Mood

Many people include all kinds of wrong verb forms in this category. However, the only accepted verb forms of the


tener


imperative are the following:

tú ten vos tené (South American) usted tenga (formal)	you have
vosotros/vosotras tened ustedes tengan	you (plural) have

Tener


Conjugation Practice

Do you what’s better than reading about the conjugation of


tener?


It’s acquiring it. If you acquire new vocabulary, you learn it subconsciously as a result of meaningful interaction with the target language.

Here’s a quick warm-up:

1.
¡Mis vecinos __________ un perro muy bonito!

• tengo
• tienes
• tenemos
• tienen
  

2.
Ayer yo __________ una gripe muy fuerte.

• tuve
• tuviste
• tuvimos
• tuvieron
  

3.
Nosotros __________ mucha sed.

• tengo
• tienes
• tiene
• tenemos
  

4.
Tú __________ el pelo muy largo.

• tengo
• tienes
• tiene
• tienen
  

5.
Ustedes __________ un carro muy rápido.

• tengo
• tienes
• tenemos
• tienen
  

Answers:
1. tienen; 2. tuve; 3. tenemos; 4. tienes; 5. tienen

Need more practice? Clozemaster will expose you to real Spanish and exercises that will require you to fill in missing information. Don’t worry if you make a mistake! It’s just proof that you are learning!

Common Questions About


Tener

1. When is


tener


used in Spanish?

In Spanish,


tener


is used to indicate possession. For example, “yo tengo un carro” means “I have a car” in English.


Tener


is also used in many idiomatic expressions. One of them is “tener sed”, which means “to be thirsty”.

2. What is the meaning of


tener que?

At times,


tener


is used with the Spanish preposition


que


and an infinitive (infinitives are verbs that end in “ar”, “er”, or “ir” in Spanish). The verb phrase “tener que” means “have to” in English, and it expresses obligation. For example, “tienes que hacerlo” means “you have to do it”.

3. Is


tener


a stem changing verb?

Yes!
Tener



is
a stem changing verb. The stem of


tener


is


ten.


We get the stem of Spanish verbs by eliminating the endings “ar”, “er” or “ir”. At times, the stem


ten


changes to


tien or tuv.

---

Learn More About


Tener

Now you know all there is to know about the conjugation of

tener

. Don’t forget to read about the different

uses of


tener

if you don’t know them yet!

---

Challenge yourself with Clozemaster

Test your conjugation skills and see what you’ve learned from this article by playing a selection of sentences with various forms and uses of the Spanish verbtener:

Sign up here to save your progress and start getting fluent with thousands of Spanish sentences at Clozemaster.

Clozemasterhas been designed to help you learn the language in context by filling in the gaps in authentic sentences. With features such as Grammar Challenges, Cloze-Listening, and Cloze-Reading, the app will let you emphasize all the competencies necessary to become fluent in Spanish.

Take your Spanish to the next level. Click here to start practicing with real Spanish sentences!