The short version
- Tener expressions are phrases where English says "I am" and Spanish says "I have": tengo hambre, tengo frío, tengo prisa.
- Because they're nouns, you make them stronger with mucho or mucha, never muy.
- Learn about ten of them as fixed chunks and practise them out loud when you actually feel hungry, cold or tired.
Tener expressions in Spanish are the phrases where English uses "to be" and Spanish uses "to have". You aren't hungry, you have hunger. You aren't cold, you have cold. You aren't 30, you have 30 years.
They matter because they come up constantly. You'll say at least one of them most days: when you arrive somewhere freezing, when you need to leave, when someone offers you food, when you're too tired to go out.
The good news is that there aren't many of them, and once you've said them out loud a few times they stop feeling strange.
The core tener expressions
These are the ones you'll use most. Learn them as whole chunks, not as "tener + a word".
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| tengo hambre | I'm hungry |
| tengo sed | I'm thirsty |
| tengo frío | I'm cold |
| tengo calor | I'm hot |
| tengo sueño | I'm sleepy / tired |
| tengo prisa | I'm in a hurry |
| tengo miedo | I'm scared |
| tengo razón | I'm right |
| tengo suerte | I'm lucky |
| tengo 35 años | I'm 35 |
Change the verb for other people in the normal way: ¿Tienes frío? (Are you cold?), Mi hijo tiene sueño (My son's sleepy), Tenemos prisa (We're in a hurry).
If you're hot, say tengo calor. Estoy caliente usually means you're sexually aroused, which is not what you want to tell your landlord in August. Estoy frío is less embarrassing but still wrong: it means you're cold to the touch.
Mucho, not muy
This is the mistake that gives learners away most. In English you say "very hungry", so it's tempting to say muy hambre. But hambre is a noun, so you need mucho or mucha, and it has to match the noun.
| Say this | Not this | English |
|---|---|---|
| Tengo mucha hambre. | Tengo muy hambre. | I'm really hungry. |
| Tengo mucha sed. | Tengo muy sed. | I'm really thirsty. |
| Tengo mucho frío. | Tengo muy frío. | I'm really cold. |
| Tengo mucho sueño. | Tengo muy sueño. | I'm really tired. |
| Tengo mucha prisa. | Tengo muy prisa. | I'm in a real hurry. |
| Tengo un poco de frío. | Tengo poco frío. | I'm a bit cold. |
Hambre, sed, prisa and suerte are feminine, so they take mucha. Frío, calor, sueño and miedo are masculine, so they take mucho. If that feels like too much to remember, just learn the six lines in the table as they are. That's what native speakers do anyway.
For "a bit", use un poco de: Tengo un poco de hambre. Plain poco means "not much", so Tengo poca hambre means you're not very hungry.
Tener que and tener ganas de
Two tener expressions do more work in conversation than all the others put together.
I have to
Anything you need to do. Follow it with a verb in the infinitive.
I feel like / I'm looking forward to
Anything you want to do, or can't wait for.
Tener que
Tener que is how you get out of things, explain why you're late and leave a conversation politely. Lo siento, tengo que irme is one of the most useful sentences you can learn in your first month.
- Tengo que irme.I have to go.
- Tengo que irme porque tengo prisa.I have to go because I'm in a hurry.
- Lo siento, tengo que irme porque tengo prisa, pero mañana hablamos.Sorry, I have to go because I'm in a hurry, but we'll talk tomorrow.
Tener ganas de
Ganas is one of those words English doesn't have an exact match for. It covers "feel like", "want to" and "can't wait". You'll hear it all the time in Spain.
- No tengo ganas de salir esta noche. I don't feel like going out tonight.
- Tengo muchas ganas de ir a la playa. I'm really looking forward to going to the beach.
- ¡Qué ganas! I can't wait!
That last one is a great reaction. When a friend tells you about a plan, ¡Qué ganas! shows you're keen without you having to build a sentence.
Everyday tener expressions beyond the basics
Once the core ones feel natural, these are the next ones worth learning. They're common in everyday Spanish in Spain and they make you sound much less like a textbook.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tener cuidado | to be careful | ¡Ten cuidado, que resbala! |
| tener la culpa | to be to blame | Tú no tienes la culpa. |
| tener buena pinta | to look good (food, plans) | Esto tiene muy buena pinta. |
| tener dolor de ___ | to have a ___ ache | Tengo dolor de cabeza. |
| tener claro | to be sure about | No lo tengo claro. |
| tener en cuenta | to bear in mind | Ten en cuenta que cierra a las dos. |
Tiene buena pinta is worth singling out. Say it when someone puts food in front of you, or when a friend shows you a flat online. It's short, easy to pronounce and people use it constantly.
Hace frío is about the weather (it's cold today). Tengo frío is about you (I'm cold). Está frío is about a thing (the coffee's cold). Three verbs, three different jobs.
Using tener expressions in a conversation
Tener expressions rarely come alone. Someone asks a question, you answer, and usually you add a reason or a plan. Practise both sides of short exchanges like this one.
Notice how the questions are just the same expressions with tienes. If you know tengo hambre, you already know ¿Tienes hambre? This is one of the easiest ways to turn an answer into a two-way conversation.
For the next week, every time you notice you're hungry, cold, sleepy or late, say the tener expression out loud, even quietly. Add mucho or un poco de if it fits. Walking to the bus in the rain? Tengo mucho frío y tengo prisa. Because you're saying it at the moment you feel it, the phrase gets linked to the feeling rather than to the English word, and it comes out faster next time.
Common mistakes
Saying estoy hambre or soy frío. It's the English "I am" leaking through.
Use tengo for hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sleep, hurry, fear and age.
Saying muy hambre or muy frío.
Use mucho or mucha: mucha hambre, mucho frío.
Saying soy 35 años.
Age goes with tener: tengo 35 años.
Using estoy caliente when it's hot.
Say tengo calor, or hace calor for the weather.
Learning the list and never using it.
Pick three and use them this week, in real situations, out loud.
If you're still mixing up ser and estar as well, this post on ser vs estar covers when to use each. A lot of learners find that once tener expressions are sorted, the other two get easier, because there are fewer situations left to confuse.
How to make them automatic
You don't need a grammar rule in your head when you speak. You need the chunk ready. That comes from saying it, not reading it.
- Learn them as chunks. Put tengo mucha hambre on a flashcard, not hambre (f.).
- Say the question and the answer. ¿Tienes sueño? / Sí, tengo mucho sueño. Both sides, out loud.
- Attach them to a conversation you'll really have. Tener expressions fit naturally into talking about your day, food and plans. They sit well alongside the reflexive verbs for your daily routine (me levanto a las siete y siempre tengo sueño) and talking about food.
- Use them the same day. Every time you use one in a real conversation, it gets easier to find the next time.
If you want to practise with other learners, you can post a short voice note using three tener expressions in the 100 Spanish Conversations community and people will reply in Spanish.
Recap
- Tener expressions are where English says "I am" and Spanish says "I have".
- The core ten cover hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sleep, hurry, fear, being right, luck and age.
- Use mucho or mucha, never muy.
- Tener que and tener ganas de are the two you'll use most in conversation.
- Learn them as chunks and say them out loud when you actually feel them.
Tener expressions show up in almost every theme in 100 Spanish Conversations, from food and weekends to health and plans, so you practise them in real conversations rather than as a list.
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com