Haber and Tener in Spanish

Haber and tener

Haber and tener are two Spanish verbs and both mean “to have,” but they are used in different ways and contexts. Tener is used to express ownership or possession, obligation, and some feelings or states, examples are “I have a dress”, “I have to go”, “I’m hungy”.

Haber, on the other hand, is often used as an auxiliary verb to form compound tenses, such as the present perfect tense, and to express the existence of something or someone, or to convey that an action has been completed. Examples are “There is a problem”, “I have read this lesson” .

Conjugation of haber and tener in the present tense

Subject	tener	haber	English
Yo	tengo	He	I have
Tu	tienes	Has	You have
El/ella	tiene	Han	He/she has
Nosotros	tenemos	Hemos	We have
Ustedes	tienen	Han	You have
Ellos	tienen	han	They have

Tener

Tener to express ownership/possession

Subject + tener + what is owned or possessed

Tu + tienes + un libro. (You + have + a book). You can also omit the subject and just use the conjugated verb and the object: “Tienes un libro” (You have a book).
Ellos tienen una reunión. – They +have + a meeting
Yo tengo un hermano. – I have a brother.
Tengo un hermano. – I have a brother.
Tenemos tarea que hacer. – We have homework to do.
El gato tiene ojos verdes. – Thecat has blue eyes.
Tengo un dolor de cabeza. – I have a headache.
¿Tienes un lápiz? – Do youhave a pencil?
No tengo hijos. – I don’t have children.
Ellos tienen una casa grande. – Theyhave a big house.

Tener to express duty or obligation

Tener can also be used to express duty or obligation in Spanish, and it can be used as a synonym for the English verb “must.”

Subject + tener + que + what has to be done/happen

El tiene que limpiar su habitación. – He has to clean his room.
Ellos tienen que venir. – They have to come.
El sol tiene que salir. – The sun has to come out.
Tengo que ir a la escuela. – I have to go to school.
Ellos tienen que ir a clases. – They need/have to go to class.
Tengo que irme. – I have to go.
Tienes que pensar antes de hablar. – You have to think before you speak.
Ella tiene que dirigir su compañía. – She has to manage her company.

Tener to express feelings or states

Subject + tener + feeling or state

Tengo miedo. – I’m scared.
Ellos tienen frio – They are cold.
Tenemos hambre. – We are hungry.

Note for beginners: If you’re a beginner, all you should learn for now is all of the above, the following information is for more advanced lessons.

Haber

Haber acts as a main verb to express existence, and as an auxiliary for actions.

As a main verb to express existence. In this context, haber is often used with the impersonal pronoun “hay” to mean “there is/are”. Haber (Hay) + what exists

Hay una fiesta en mi casa. – There is a party at my house.

Hay una mosca. – There is a fly.

Hay muchas tiendas. – There are a lot of stores.

As an auxiliary verb to form compound tenses and express actions that have been completed. In this context, haber is used with a past participle to form compound tenses such as the present perfect.

Yo he estudiado español por dos años. (I have studied Spanish for two years).

¿Ustedes han visto mi lápiz?. Have you seen my pencil?

Conjugation of haber

Spanish	English
Yo he	I have
Tú has	Youhave
Él/ella ha	He/She/ has
Nosotros hemos	We have
Ustedes han	You have
Ellos han	They have

Haber + past participle

Haber + past participle is a compound tense in Spanish that is used to express completed actions in the past. This is just one of the verbal tenses that can be formed with haber

The structure of this tense is: Subject + haber + past participle.

Yo he comido. – I have eaten.
Tu has comido.- You have eaten
El/ella ha comido. – He/She/ has eaten.
Nosotros hemos comido.-We have eaten.
Ustedes han comido. – You have eaten.
Ellos han comido.-They have eaten.
Has visto la revista. – You have seen the magazine.
Yo no he llegado a casa. – I haven’tarrived home.
Ellos han tocado el perro. – They have touched the dog.
Nosotros hemos cantado en un bar. – We have played at a bar.

Haber and Tener in Past simple

Subject	tener	haber	Inglés
Yo	tenía	había	I had
Tú	tenías	habías	Youhad
Él/ella	tenía	había	He/shehad
Nosotros	tenían	habíamos	Wehad
Ustedes	tenían	habías	Youhad
Ellos	tenían	habían	They had

Examples

Ella tenía un computadora moderna. – She had a modern computer.
Yo tenía que comprar un pastel. – I had to buy a cake.
Ellos tenían que hacer todo rápido. – They had to do everything fast.
Lorenzo tenía un jardín hermoso. – Lorenzo had a beautiful garden.
Yohabía visto algo así. – I had seen something like that.
Él había conseguido un apartamento perfecto. – He had found a perfect apartment.

Exercises

Complete the folowing exercises of haber and tener.

Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the correct form of tener.

Yo __________ hambre. (I am hungry)
Tú __________ un perro. (You have a dog)

Ellos __________ que estudiar para el examen. (They have to study for the exam)
Ella __________ frío. (She is cold)
Nosotros __________ una casa en la playa. (We have a house on the beach)

Exercise 2: Complete the sentences with the correct form of haber.

__________ un problema en el trabajo. (There is a problem at work)
Yo nunca __________ estado en Nueva York. (I have never been to New York)

¿Cuántos años __________ vivido en esta ciudad? (How many years have you lived in this city?)
Ellos __________ terminado la tarea. (They have finished the homework)
No __________ ninguna excusa para no hacer ejercicio. (There is no excuse for not exercising)

Answers

Exercise 1:

Yo tengo hambre. (I am hungry) Tú tienes un perro. (You have a dog) Ellos tienen que estudiar para el examen. (They have to study for the exam) Ella tiene frío. (She is cold) Nosotros tenemos una casa en la playa. (We have a house on the beach)