How to conjugate Tener in Spanish

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".

How it’s built: Irregular stem tuv- plus the endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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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".

How it’s built: Regular: stem ten- plus the -er endings.

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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".

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund teniendo.

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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".

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive tener.

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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".

How it’s built: Irregular stem tendr- instead of tener, plus the future endings.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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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".

How it’s built: Irregular stem tendr- instead of tener, plus the conditional endings.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, tuvieron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (tuviéramos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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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".

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, tuvieron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (tuviéremos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle tenido.

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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".

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no tengas, no tenga, no tengamos, no tengáis, no tengan.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

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