En resumen (the short version)
- In tener idioms, Spanish uses a noun where English uses an adjective. You don't are hungry, you have hunger: tengo hambre.
- Because they're nouns, you make them stronger with mucho or mucha, not muy.
- Learn the everyday ones first (hunger, cold, sleep, hurry), then tener que, and then a few very Spanish ones like tener cara.
✌🏼 ¡Hola aventurero!
Here's a sentence that confuses almost every beginner: Tengo 30 años y tengo frío. Literally, "I have 30 years and I have cold" 🥶
It sounds odd in English, but in Spanish it's completely normal. Tener idioms in Spanish come up every day: when you're hungry, late, tired, lucky or right.
So let's look at why Spanish works this way, and then go through the ones you'll actually use, with a long travel day as our example.
Why Spanish "has" hunger
Teacher bit 🤓 In English, "hungry", "cold" and "sleepy" are adjectives. They describe you. In Spanish, hambre, frío and sueño are nouns. They're things, and you have them.
| English | The Spanish noun | So you say… |
|---|---|---|
| hungry | el hambre (hunger) | Tengo hambre. |
| thirsty | la sed (thirst) | Tengo sed. |
| cold | el frío (cold) | Tengo frío. |
| sleepy | el sueño (sleep, tiredness) | Tengo sueño. |
| scared | el miedo (fear) | Tengo miedo. |
| embarrassed | la vergüenza (embarrassment) | Tengo vergüenza. |
Once you see them as nouns, the next part (making them stronger) makes a lot more sense.
Tener idioms for how you feel
Imagine a long day of travelling: an early train, a delay, a cold carriage. Here are the tener idioms you'd need for it:
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tener hambre | to be hungry | Tengo hambre, ¿compramos algo? |
| tener sed | to be thirsty | Tengo sed. ¿Hay agua? |
| tener frío / calor | to be cold / hot | Tengo frío, me pongo la chaqueta. |
| tener sueño | to be sleepy | Tengo sueño, me he levantado a las cinco. |
| tener prisa | to be in a hurry | Tenemos prisa, el tren sale en cinco minutos. |
| tener miedo | to be scared | Tengo miedo de perder el tren. |
For other people, just change the form of tener: ¿Tienes frío?, Mi hermana tiene sueño, ¿Tenéis hambre?
One thing to keep apart: tengo frío is about you. If it's the weather, Spanish says hace frío. There's more on that in Spanish weather expressions.
Mucho or mucha? Making them stronger
Because these are nouns, you can't use muy (very). Muy goes with adjectives. With nouns, you need mucho or mucha, matching the noun.
| Feminine nouns: mucha | Masculine nouns: mucho | |
|---|---|---|
| The nouns | hambre, sed, prisa, suerte, vergüenza | frío, calor, sueño, miedo |
| Example | Tengo mucha hambre. | Tengo mucho sueño. |
| Even stronger | Tengo muchísima prisa. | Tengo muchísimo frío. |
Hambre is the sneaky one. It takes el (el hambre), but it's feminine, so it's mucha hambre. It's the same thing that happens with el agua: feminine words that start with a stressed a take el to make them easier to say.
Tengo muy hambre is a very common learner mistake. You might hear it in some places, but in Spain, and in correct Spanish, it's Tengo mucha hambre.
People in Spain also make these stronger in a more relaxed way:
- ¡Qué + noun! ¡Qué hambre! (I'm so hungry!), ¡Qué sueño!
- Tanto / tanta… que… Tengo tanta hambre que me comería una vaca (I'm so hungry I could eat a horse, or here, a cow 🐄).
- Un + noun + pause. Tengo un sueño… (I'm sooo tired…). The pause does the work.
Tener que, hay que and tener ganas de
Tener que + infinitive means "to have to". It's one of the most useful structures in Spanish, but learners often mix it up with hay que and deber.
| Spanish | When to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tener que | A specific person has to do something | Tengo que cambiar de tren en Madrid. |
| hay que | People in general have to (a rule or advice) | Hay que validar el billete antes de subir. |
| deber | Someone should do something | Deberías llevar una chaqueta. |
Then there's tener ganas de: "to feel like" or "to look forward to". It goes with an infinitive, or with que + subjunctive when someone or something else does the action:
- Tengo ganas de ver el mar. (I'm looking forward to seeing the sea.)
- Tengo ganas de que lleguen las vacaciones. (I can't wait for the holidays to come.)
Luck, age and some very Spanish ones
A few more tener idioms you'll need straight away:
- tener razón: to be right. Tienes razón, el tren sale a las ocho.
- tener suerte: to be lucky. ¡Qué suerte tienes!
- tener … años: to be … years old. Mi abuela tiene noventa años.
- tener cuidado: to be careful. Ten cuidado con la maleta.
And now my favourite part: tener idioms you'll hear all the time in Spain, but probably not in your textbook.
| Spanish | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| no tener ni idea | to have no idea | No tengo ni idea de dónde está el andén. |
| tener (mucha) cara | to have a nerve | ¡Qué cara tiene! Se ha colado. |
| tener mala leche | to be bad-tempered, or mean | El revisor tiene muy mala leche hoy. |
| tener mala pata | to be unlucky | ¡Qué mala pata! Han cancelado el tren. |
| tener enchufe | to have connections | Consiguió el trabajo porque tiene enchufe. |
¡Qué cara tiene! is a classic when someone jumps the queue. And enchufe literally means "plug", so having one means you're "plugged in" to the right people 🔌
A travel day in tener idioms
Two friends on a long train journey:
Notice tiempo de sobra at the end: "time to spare". Tener de sobra works with lots of things: Tenemos comida de sobra (we've got more than enough food).
Every time you notice you're hungry, cold or in a hurry this week, say the tener idiom out loud: ¡Qué hambre!, Tengo mucho frío, Tengo prisa. You'll link the Spanish to the feeling instead of the English word.
Practise them this week
Describe one long day
Think of a busy day, like a trip or a long day at work, and say four sentences about it with tener idioms: Por la mañana tenía mucho sueño. A la una tenía muchísima hambre…
Choose between tener que and hay que
Write two rules for your home with hay que (Hay que sacar la basura los martes) and two things you personally have to do with tengo que (Tengo que llamar a mi madre).
Use one very Spanish idiom
Pick one from the "Very Spanish tener idioms" table, like no tengo ni idea, and use it in a real conversation or a message this week.
If tener still gets mixed up with "to be" in your head, you're not alone. Have a look at my visual guide to ser and estar to sort out the other two.
Recap ✨
- Tener idioms use a noun where English uses an adjective: tengo hambre, tengo frío, tengo sueño.
- Make them stronger with mucho or mucha, never muy: mucha hambre, mucho sueño.
- Tener que is for a specific person, hay que is for people in general, and deber means "should".
- Tener ganas de + infinitive means "to feel like" or "to look forward to".
- Spain has lots of fun ones, like tener cara, tener enchufe and no tener ni idea.
If seeing grammar as nouns, tables and patterns helps it make sense, my Visual Spanish Grammar Book explains the rest of Spanish grammar in the same way, with charts and colour-coded examples.
Now tell me 👀 Which tener idiom do you use most, and which one is new to you? Cuéntame in the comments!
¡Un abrazo!
Lucía ☕
Lucía · Linguist, translator, Spanish teacher and author of the Visual Spanish Grammar Book.
Come and learn Spanish with me and other aventureros like yourself at skool.com/learnspanish 🎉