Spanish Idioms of the Form Tener Noun

In Spanish, you can have it all. Thats because tener, the verb meaning to have in the sense of to possess (haber is the equivalent of the English auxiliary verb to have) is frequently used in idioms to refer to a wide range of emotions and other states of being. While we may say in English that you are hungry or a person is thirsty, in Spanish we say the equivalent of you have hunger or someone has thirst. Thus tienes hambre means you are hungry and tiene sed means he/she is thirsty. Tener Phrases Often Preferred to Adjectives Most of the tener noun idioms arent hard to learn, as they generally make sense as long as you know what the noun part of the phrase means. What can be challenging is learning when their use is preferred. For example, you may be aware that there is an adjective, hambriento, that means hungry. But youre unlikely to hear a sentence such as estoy hambriento (just as you arent likely to hear a native English speaker say, I have hunger, even though the sentence would be understood and grammatically correct). Usually, the tener noun idioms are translated using the English verb to be followed by an adjective. Following are some of the most common such uses of tener. tener cabeza (para), to have a mind (for): Tu hermana tiene cabeza para los negocios. (Your sister has a mind for business.)tener calor, to be hot: Siempre tienes calor. (Youre always hot.)tener carià ±o, to be fond: Pablo tiene carià ±o a Marà ­a. (Paul is fond of Mary.)tener celos, to be jealous: Tengo celos a mi hermana. (Im jealous of my sister.)tener claro, to be clear or sure:  Tenemos claro que podemos ayudar a mejorar nuestra sociedad. (Were sure that we can help improve our society.)  tener complejos, to be mentally insecure:  Tengo complejos con mi estilo de vida actual. (Im insecure about my current lifestyle.)tener cuidado, to be careful: Espero que tengas cuidado con el libro. (I hope youre careful with the book.)tener la culpa, to be guilty or at fault: Mi padre dijo que tengo la culpa. (My father said its my fault.)tener derecho, to have the right: Tengo derecho de votar. (I have the right to vote.)tener efecto, to have an effect: La hipnosis tiene efecto en e l cerebro. (Hypnosis does not have an effect on the brainl)tener à ©xito, to be successful: El jefe tiene un gran à ©xito. (The boss is very successful.)tener frà ­o, to be cold: Hace viento. Tengo frà ­o. (Its windy. Im cold.)tener ganas de infinitive, to be in the mood for, to feel like doing something: Tengo ganas de comer una hamburguesa. (I feel like eating a hamburger.)tener hambre, to be hungry: No ha comido. Tiene hambre. (He hasnt eaten. Hes hungry.)tener ilusià ³n, to be enthusiastic: Tiene ilusià ³n por viajar a California. (Hes enthusiastic about traveling to California.)tener miedo a noun, to be afraid of: Mi hermana tiene miedo a los serpientes. (My sister is afraid of snakes.)tener miedo de infinitive, to be afraid of: Tiene miedo de nadar. (Hes afraid of swimming.)tener prisa, to be in a hurry: Tengo prisa. El teatro comienza a las ocho. (Im in a hurry. The play begins at 8.)tener razà ³n, to be right: El cliente siempre tiene razà ³n. (The customer is alw ays right.)tener sed, to be thirsty: He trabajado mucho. Tengo sed. (Ive worked a lot. Im thirsty.)tener sueà ±o, to be tired or sleepy: No has dormido. Tendrà ¡s sueà ±o. (You havent slept. You must be tired.)tener suerte, to be lucky: Mi hijo ganà ³ la loterà ­a. Tiene mucha suerte. (My son won the lottery. Hes very lucky.)tener vergà ¼enza, to be ashamed: Matà © a mi amigo. Tengo mucha vergà ¼enza. (I killed my friend. Im so ashamed.) Because tener is used so often to indicate mental states, it can be used by itself to ask someone how he or she is doing, especially if you suspect something is wrong:  ¿Quà © tienes? Whats up with you? Note that the adjective mucho or mucha can be used with the noun portion of the idiom to indicate degree as is expressed by very in English: Tengo sed, Im thirsty. Tengo mucha sed, Im very thirsty. Note also that tener is irregular in its conjugation.