Spanish 3.7. Uses of the Verbs “Haber” and “Tener”

In this lesson, we cover the important Spanish verbs “haber” and “tener.”

The two verbs “haber” and “tener” are widely used in Spanish. Here, we discuss some special uses other than the common ones.

The Verb “Haber”

We have encountered the auxiliary verb “haber” in the present perfect tense, e.g., “Yo he comido” (I have eaten), and we will encounter it again in the future perfect tense, e.g., “Yo habré comido” (I will have eaten), and in other tenses.

	Present Tense	Future Tense
yo	he	habré
tú	has	habrás
él/ella/usted	ha	habrá
nosotros/-as	hemos	habremos
vosotros/-as	habéis	habréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	han	habrán

The Expression “There is/are …”

Another common and special use of the verb “haber” is the expression “Hay …,” which is translated as “There is/are …,” and is the same for singular and plural. The form “hay” is considered in the present tense and does not take a personal pronoun as a subject.

Hay …	There is/are …
Ha habido …	There has/have been …
Había/Hubo …	There was/were …
Habrá …	There will be …

Both “había” and “hubo” mean “there was/were.” The first is more common. There is a subtle difference that we will come to understand as we study the difference between the two past tense forms in Spanish, namely the preterite and the imperfect.

The Expression “Hay que …”

Another use of the verb “haber” in the form “hay que…(infinitive)” is to express obligation, meaning “One must …” or “It must be that you ….” For example:

Hay que tener cuidado en la ciudad.	One must be careful in the city.
Hay que hacer ejercicio frecuentemente.	One must exercise frequently.

The expression “Hay cupo” means “There is room,” whereas “No hay cupo” means “There is no space or vacancy.”

The Verb “Tener”

We have also encountered the verb “tener” (to have) as an irregular verb in the present tense.

yo	tengo
tú	tienes
él/ella/usted	tiene
nosotros/-as	tenemos
vosotros/-as	tenéis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	tienen

In addition to the obvious use of “tener” to indicate possession, e.g., “Yo tengo dos gatos” (I have two cats), there are some less obvious uses of the verb “tener” in Spanish:

Age

In English, we use the verb “to be” to describe age, as in “how old are you?” and “I am 30 years old.” In Spanish, the verb “tener” is used instead. In Spanish, we literally say, “I have 30 years old” rather than, “I am 30 years old.” Here are a few more examples:

¿Cuántos años tienes?	How old are you?
Tengo 40 años.	I am 40 years old.
Ella tiene 20 años.	She is 20 years old.

Expressions with “Tener” that describe a feeling, pain, illness, or desire.

Some expressions in Spanish describe a feeling or desire using the verb “tener,” while their equivalent in English uses the verb “to be,” e.g., “Tengo miedo” (I am afraid). The word “miedo” means “fear.” Thus, we literally say, “I have fear.” Some other examples are:

tener hambre	to be hungry	tener sed	to be thirsty
tener frío	to be cold	tener calor	to be hot
tener sueño	to be sleepy	tener cuidado	to be careful
tener alergia	to be allergic	tener razón	to be right
tener suerte	to be lucky	tener prisa	to be in a hurry
tener celos	to be jealous	tener éxito	to be successful
tener ganas de	to want or desire	tener vergüenza	to be ashamed

Tener que …

One way to express the obligation “have to …” is by using “tener que” followed by the infinitive, for example:

Yo tengo que hacerlo.	I have to do it.
Ellos tienen que pagar.	They have to pay.
Nosotros tenemos que ir.	We have to go.

Other Expressions

There are many other idioms and expressions that use the verb “tener.” One common expression is “Tiene sentido,” which means “It makes sense.” Some other expressions are:

tener lugar	to take place	tener la palabra	to have the floor
tener mala cara	to look bad	tener la culpa	to take the blame
tener que ver con	to have to do with	tener mucho que hacer	to have a lot to do

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