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How to conjugate Tener in Spanish

To have Irregular Verb Top 100

Introduction

Tener is the Spanish verb "to have". It is an extremely useful verb and is largely irregular when conjugating. It is important to note that in Spanish, tener is used to portray a person's age; for example: "tengo 21 años". This literally translates to "I have 21 years". Another common use for Tener is to indicate an obligation, for example: "tengo que irme a casa" - "I have to go home". It is always followed by "que" to indicate this type of obligation or "must".

Similar verbs to tener include: poseer (to have/ possess).

ItemSpanishEnglish
Infinitivetenerto have
Past participletenidohad
Gerundteniendohaving

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Indicative Tenses of Tener

Tener in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of tener is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, "tengo un gato gris", meaning "I have a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotengo I have
tienes you have
Ella / Él / Ustedtiene s/he has , you (formal) have
Nosotras / Nosotrostenemoswe have
Vosotras / Vosotrostenéisyou (plural) have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestienen they have ,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of tener is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "tuve un gato gris", meaning "I had a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotuve I had
tuviste you had
Ella / Él / Ustedtuvo s/he had, you (formal) had
Nosotras / Nosotrostuvimos we had
Vosotras / Vosotrostuvisteis you (plural) had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestuvieron they had,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Indicative Imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of tener is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "tenía un gato gris", meaning "I used to have a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YoteníaI used to have
teníasyou used to have
Ella / Él / Ustedtenías/he used to have, you (formal) used to have
Nosotras / Nosotrosteníamoswe used to have
Vosotras / Vosotrosteníaisyou (plural) used to have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesteníanthey used to have,

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Tener in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of tener is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, "estoy teniendo un gato gris", meaning "I am having a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy teniendoI am having
estás teniendoyou are having
Ella / Él / Ustedestá teniendos/he is having, you (formal) are having
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos teniendowe are having
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis teniendoyou (plural) are having
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán teniendothey are having,

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Tener in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of tener is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, "voy a tener un gato gris", meaning "I am going to have a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a tenerI am going to have
vas a teneryou are going to have
Ella / Él / Ustedva a teners/he is going to have, you (formal) are going to have
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a tenerwe are going to have
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a teneryou (plural) are going to have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a tenerthey are going to have,

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Tener in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of tener is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "tendré un gato gris", meaning "I will have a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotendré I will have
tendrás you will have
Ella / Él / Ustedtendrá s/he will have, you (formal) will have
Nosotras / Nosotrostendremos we will have
Vosotras / Vosotrostendréis you (plural) will have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestendrán they will have,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Indicative Conditional

The Indicative Conditional of tener is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "tendría un gato gris", meaning "I would have a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotendría I would have
tendrías you would have
Ella / Él / Ustedtendría s/he would have, you (formal) would have
Nosotras / Nosotrostendríamos we would have
Vosotras / Vosotrostendríais you (plural) would have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestendrían they would have,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of tener is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, "he tenido un gato gris", meaning "I have had a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe tenidoI have had
has tenidoyou have had
Ella / Él / Ustedha tenidos/he has had, you (formal) have had
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos tenidowe have had
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis tenidoyou (plural) have had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan tenidothey have had,

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Tener in the Indicative Past Perfect

The Indicative Past Perfect of tener is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había tenido un gato gris", meaning "I had had a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía tenidoI had had
habías tenidoyou had had
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía tenidos/he had had, you (formal) had had
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos tenidowe had had
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais tenidoyou (plural) had had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían tenidothey had had,

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Tener in the Indicative Future Perfect

The Indicative Future Perfect of tener is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré tenido un gato gris", meaning "I will have had a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré tenidoI will have had
habrás tenidoyou will have had
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá tenidos/he will have had, you (formal) will have had
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos tenidowe will have had
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis tenidoyou (plural) will have had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán tenidothey will have had,

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Tener in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of tener is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría tenido un gato gris", meaning "I would have had a grey cat".

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría tenidoI would have had
habrías tenidoyou would have had
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría tenidos/he would have had, you (formal) would have had
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos tenidowe would have had
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais tenidoyou (plural) would have had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían tenidothey would have had,

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Subjunctive Tenses of Tener

Tener in the Subjunctive Present

The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, "tenga", meaning "I have ".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotenga I have
tengas you have
Ella / Él / Ustedtenga s/he has , you (formal) have
Nosotras / Nosotrostengamos we have
Vosotras / Vosotrostengáis you (plural) have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestengan they have ,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, "tuviera", meaning "I had".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotuviera I had
tuvieras you had
Ella / Él / Ustedtuviera s/he had, you (formal) had
Nosotras / Nosotrostuviéramos we had
Vosotras / Vosotrostuvierais you (plural) had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestuvieran they had,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Subjunctive Future

The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, "tuviere", meaning "I will have".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yotuviere I will have
tuvieres you will have
Ella / Él / Ustedtuviere s/he will have, you (formal) will have
Nosotras / Nosotrostuviéremos we will have
Vosotras / Vosotrostuviereis you (plural) will have
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestuvieren they will have,

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Subjunctive Present Perfect

The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, "haya tenido", meaning "I have had".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya tenidoI have had
hayas tenidoyou have had
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya tenidos/he has had, you (formal) have had
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos tenidowe have had
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis tenidoyou (plural) have had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan tenidothey have had,

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Tener in the Subjunctive Past Perfect

The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, "hubiera tenido", meaning "I had had".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera tenidoI had had
hubieras tenidoyou had had
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera tenidos/he had had, you (formal) had had
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos tenidowe had had
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais tenidoyou (plural) had had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran tenidothey had had,

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Tener in the Subjunctive Future Perfect

The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, "hubiere tenido", meaning "I will have had".

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere tenidoI will have had
hubieres tenidoyou will have had
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere tenidos/he will have had, you (formal) will have had
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos tenidowe will have had
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis tenidoyou (plural) will have had
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren tenidothey will have had,

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Imperative Tenses of Tener

Tener in the Imperative Affirmative

The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "tenga", meaning "(to you formal) have!".

In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
ten (to you) have!
Ella / Él / Ustedtenga (to you formal) have!
Nosotras / Nosotrostengamos let's have!
Vosotras / Vosotrostened(to you plural) have!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedestengan (to you plural formal) have!

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Tener in the Imperative Negative

The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no tenga", meaning "(to you formal) don't have!".

In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
no tengas (to you) don't have!
Ella / Él / Ustedno tenga (to you formal) don't have!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno tengamos let's not have!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno tengáis (to you plural) don't have!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno tengan (to you plural formal) don't have!

The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.

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Example sentences and usage

  • Tengo que irme a dormir. I have to go to sleep.
  • No tengo la intención de ser egoísta. I don't intend to be selfish.
  • No tengo a nadie que viaje conmigo. I don't have anyone who'd travel with me.
  • Tengo una cuenta pendiente contigo. I have a bone to pick with you.
  • ¡Dame tiempo para darte todo lo que tengo! Give me time to give you everything I have!
  • Lo que no tienes es mejor que lo que sí tienes. What you don't have is better than what you do have.
  • ¿Cuándo se puede decir que una persona tiene problemas con el alcohol? When can one say that a person has alcohol issues?
  • Aquí tiene su cambio. Here is your change.

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Want to explore other verb conjugations?

Why not check out Terminar – to end, to terminate, to finish or see the complete list of verbs here.


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