tener

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin tenēre, present active infinitive of teneō

Verb

tener

1. to have, hold

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Interlingua

Verb

tener

1. to hold

Conjugation

Conjugation of “tener”

Nominal forms
Infinitive		tener
		Present	Perfect
Participles		tenente	tenite
Personal forms
		Simple	Perfect
Active voice	Present	tene	ha tenite
	Past	teneva	habeva tenite
	Future	tenera	habera tenite
	Conditional	tenerea	haberea tenite
	Imperative	tene	--
Passive voice	Present	es tenite	ha essite tenite
	Past	esseva tenite	habeva essite tenite
	Future	essera tenite	habera essite tenite
	Conditional	esserea tenite	haberea essite tenite
	Imperative	sia tenite	--

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Italian

Verb

tener

1. apocopic form of tenere

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA: /ˈte.ner/

Adjective

tener m. (feminine tenera, neuter tenerum); first/second declension

1. soft, delicate, tender
2. young, youthful
3. effeminate, sensitive

Inflection

Number	Singular				Plural
Case \ Gender	M.	F.	N.		MM.	FF.	NN.
nominative	tener	tenera	tenerum		tenerī	tenerae	tenera
genitive	tenerī	tenerae	tenerī		tenerōrum	tenerārum	tenerōrum
dative	tenerō	tenerae	tenerō		tenerīs	tenerīs	tenerīs
accusative	tenerum	teneram	tenerum		tenerōs	tenerās	tenera
ablative	tenerō	tenerā	tenerō		tenerīs	tenerīs	tenerīs
vocative	tener	tenera	tenerum		tenerī	tenerae	tenera

• comparative: tenerior, superlative: tenerissimus

Derived terms

• tenellulus
• tenerāscō
• tenerē
• teneritās

Descendants

Catalan: tendre English: tender French: tendre Italian: tenero Occitan: tèndre

Portuguese: terno Romanian: tânăr Romansch: tener Spanish: tierno

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Romansch

Etymology

From Latin tener.

Adjective

tener m. (f. tenra, m. pl. teners, f. pl. tenras)

1. tender

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin tenēre (“to hold, to have”), present active infinitive of teneō (“I hold, I have”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /teˈneɾ/, SAMPA: /te"ner/

Verb

tener (first-person singular present tengo, first-person singular preterite tuve, past participle tenido)

1. (transitive) To have, possess an object.

   Ella tiene seis hermanos. — “She has six brothers.”

   Tengo una pluma. — “I have a pen.”

2. (transitive) To possess a condition or quality.

   Usted tiene suerte. — “You are lucky.” (literally: “You have luck.”)

   ¡Ten cuidado! — “Be careful!” (literally: “Have care!”)

   ¿Quién tiene razón? — “Who is right?” (literally: "Who has reason?")

3. (transitive) To hold, grasp.

   Ten esto. — “Hold this.”

4. (transitive) To contain.

   Este tarro tiene las cenizas. — “This jar contains the ashes.”

5. (transitive) To feel (internally).

   Él tiene mucho cariño para ella. — “He feels much admiration for her.”

   Tengo frío. — “I feel cold.”

   Tenemos hambre. — “We are hungry.” (literally: “We feel hunger.”)

6. (transitive) To make to feel.

   Eso nos tiene lastimos. — “That makes us sad.”

7. (transitive) To be of a measure or age.

   Tiene tres metros de ancho. — “It is three metres wide.”

   Tengo veinte años. — “I am twenty years (old).”

Usage notes

• (to feel): Tener is often used with nouns like calor (“heat”), frío (“coldness”), hambre (“hunger”), sed (“thirst”), etc. to express a personal condition, as shown in examples above.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of tener (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			tener
gerund			teniendo
past participle			tenido
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú	él/ella usted	nosotros	vosotros	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	tengo	tienes	tiene	tenemos	tenéis	tienen
	imperfect	tenía	tenías	tenía	teníamos	teníais	tenían
	preterite	tuve	tuviste	tuvo	tuvimos	tuvisteis	tuvieron
	future	tendré	tendrás	tendrá	tendremos	tendréis	tendrán
	conditional	tendría	tendrías	tendría	tendríamos	tendríais	tendrían
subjunctive		yo	tú	él/ella usted	nosotros	vosotros	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	tenga	tengas	tenga	tengamos	tengáis	tengan
	imperfect (ra)	tuviera	tuvieras	tuviera	tuviéramos	tuvierais	tuvieran
	imperfect (se)	tuviese	tuvieses	tuviese	tuviésemos	tuvieseis	tuviesen
	future	tuviere	tuvieres	tuviere	tuviéremos	tuviereis	tuvieren
imperative		—	tú	usted	nosotros	vosotros	ustedes
	affirmative		ten	tenga	tengamos	tened	tengan
	negative		no tengas	no tenga	no tengamos	no tengáis	no tengan

Other verbs with this conjugation:

[+] Spanish verbs ending in -er (conjugation tener)

Synonyms

• (to have, possess): poseer

Derived terms

• tener algo que ver con
• tener en cuenta
• tener ganas de
• tener los labios sellados
• tener por
• tener que
• tener que hacer

Related terms

contener detener mantener obtener retener

sostener tenedor teniente tenis tenor

See also

• deber
• haber