Tener conjugation

Tener means "to have". Here it is in every main tense, with real example sentences and a free checker for your own.

Tener changes form (an irregular, stem-changing or spelling-changing form) in the present, preterite, future, conditional and present subjunctive. Juntos teaches Latin American Spanish, where ustedes replaces vosotros; the vosotros forms are shown for completeness.

Tener conjugation tables

Jump to: present · preterite · imperfect · future · conditional · present subjunctive · present perfect · commands (imperative)

Tener in real sentences

Example sentences from the Juntos exercise bank, each checked before learners see it.

Present

• ¿Cuántos años tienes tú?
  How old are you?
• Ella tiene dos hermanas.
  She has two sisters.

Preterite

• Ella tuvo que terminar el trabajo antes del mediodía.
  She had to finish the work before noon.
• Anoche tuvimos una cena deliciosa con amigos.
  Last night we had a delicious dinner with friends.

Imperfect

• Cuando era niño, siempre tenía miedo de la oscuridad.
  When I was a child, I was always afraid of the dark.
• Ella tenía quince años cuando se mudó a la ciudad.
  She was fifteen years old when she moved to the city.

Mistakes learners make with tener

• Age, hunger, heat and cold use tener: tengo treinta años, tengo hambre, tengo calor. Soy treinta años and estoy caliente are the classic slips.
• Tener que + infinitive is "have to": tengo que trabajar. Without que it means to own: tengo un trabajo.
• The preterite stem is tuv-, with no written accents: tuve, tuvo, tuvieron (not tení or tuvó).

Write your own sentence with tener

Next step for tener: the Spanish essentials course, free. Not sure which past tense to use? The Spanish past tense course explains preterite vs imperfect with practice. Conjugate any other verb with the free Spanish conjugator, browse all 72 verb pages, or check any text with the free Spanish grammar checker.

Related verbs

Previous: estar · Next: hacer · all verbs

• hacer conjugation
  to do / to make
• poder conjugation
  to be able to (can)
• querer conjugation
  to want / to love
• ser conjugation
  to be (identity, traits)
• saber conjugation
  to know (a fact) / to know how
• poner conjugation
  to put
• ver conjugation
  to see / to watch
• haber conjugation
  there to be / to have (auxiliary)

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