It should be mentioned that, although tener means "to
have," it is usually used in the sense of "to possess," and it is
never used, such as haber, as an auxiliary verb in a
compound tense.
The use of the verb tener + que conveys obligation. It
means "to have to do" something.
Tengo que levantarme temprano.(I have to get
up early.)
¿No tienes que llamar a tu papá?(Don't you have to call your father?)
The tener que use is similar to hay que (one must), except that the
former is more personalized.
If, however, tener and que are separated the
expression loses much of its force.
Tengo mucho que decirte.(I have a lot
to tell you.)
Tengo poco que hacer hoy.(I have
little to do today.)
Tener can also precede the past
participle. The result is much the same as the use of estar
+ past participle, but the subject is much more
personalized.
Tienen escritas sus composiciones.(They have
their compositions written.)
There are a number
of idiomatic expressions that employ tener. In general they
all refer to physical or mental states, and the formula is tener
+ noun. To emphasize the state one uses mucho/a.
Following is a table of the most common expressions, along with
their English equivalents.
tener...años — to be...years old tener ganas de... — to feel like... tener calor — to be warm/hot tener miedo — to be afraid tener cuidado — to be careful tener razón — to be right tener frío — to be cold tener sed — to be thirsty tener hambre — to be hungry tener sueño — to be sleepy
Examples:
Tiene quince años.(She is fifteen years
old.)
Tengo hambre.(I am hungry.)
Tengo mucha sed.(I am very thirsty.)
Deber
The verb deber (should, ought) is similar to
tener, but deber implies less compulsion and more of
a sense of obligation. In the present tense deber
attempts to exert strong obligation but not compulsion.
Debes llegar a tiempo.(You should arrive on
time.)
Debe (de) estar lloviendo ahora. (It's probably
raining by now.)
Haber
The primary use of haber is as an auxiliary verb in the
construction of compound verbs, but the
other uses of the verb are the subject of this segment.
There is, of course, the ubiquitous use of hay, the
impersonal present tense form of haber that means "there is"
or "there are." Note how hay and other impersonal forms of
haber are used in the following sentences:
Hay mucho que hacer todavía.(There is
still much to do.)
Hay muchas ovejas en la calle.(There are many
sheep in the street.)
Había mucha tarea que hacer.(There was
a lot of work to do.)
Hubo muchos accidentes.(There were many
accidents.)
Habrá dificultades en el futuro.(In
the future there will be trouble.)
Habría harto tiempo.(There would be
time to spare.)
Espero que no haya problemas.(I hope there
are no problems.)
Tenía miedo de que los hubiera.(I
feared that there would be.)
The impersonal
hay is also used with visual weather conditions.
Hay muchas nubes.(It's very cloudy.)
Por fin hay sol.(At last it's
sunny.)
Hay que,
another impersonal use of haber, means "one must" or "it is
necessary." As above, the expression can appear in any tense.
Hay que hacerlo ahora mismo.(One must do it
immediately.)
Había que despedir al empleado.(It was
necessary to let the employee go.)
The use of haber de can be expressed in any person and a
variety of tenses. It's usual meaning is along the lines of "I am
to..."
He de enseñar la clase a las dos.(I am
to teach the class at two o'clock.)
Habían de llegar ayer.(They were to
arrive yesterday.)