Today we speak about Spanish verbs. Specifically, we are going to learn the most common idioms with TENER. If you want to improve your speaking skills in no time, El Rincón de Tándem Spanish schools teaches you some useful expressions in the post below ?
Without a doubt, TENER is one of those essential Spanish verbs that every student learns at the very beginning of any Spanish course.
In our Spanish lessons, teachers also explain how to correctly use TENER in order for the students to not confuse it with HABER. Here, you can find a short article about the difference between Haber and Tener.
Today, we are going to study this verb in more detail, listing some of the most common idioms with TENER.
¡Let’s start!
- Tener en cuenta = To keep in mind, to take into account
Tened en cuenta que faltan dos días para la exposición = Keep in mind that we have only two days left before the exhibition
Laura tomó la decisión final sin tener en cuenta nuestras opiniones = Laura made the final decision without taking our opinions into account
- Tener en mente hacer algo = To be thinking of doing something
Tengo en mente ir a Irlanda este verano = I am thinking of going to Ireland this summer
- Tener algo en la punta de la lengua = To have something on the tipo f one’s tongue
Dame un minuto y te lo digo. Tengo la palabra en la punta de la lengua = Give me a minute and I’ll tell you. I have the word on the tip of my tongue
- Tener (mucho/poco) mundo = To be very experienced / To be unexperienced
Luisa ha vivido en cuatros países distintos y por eso tiene mucho mundo = Luisa has lived in four different countries and that’s why she is very experienced
Ángel tiene poco mundo; se sorprende de todo = Ángel is unexperienced; he gets surprised about everything
- Tener a mano = To have something on hand
Por favor, ten a mano el mapa por si nos perdemos = Please, have the map on hand in case we get lost
- Tener gracia = to be funny
Lo que acabas de decir no tiene gracia = What you have just said isn’t funny
Sus chistes tienen mucha gracias = Her jokes are very funny
- No tener la menor idea = To not have the faintest idea
¿Sabes a qué hora es el concierto? – No tengo la menor idea = Do you know at what time the concert is? – I don’t have the faintest idea
- Tener ángel = To be charming
La profesora tiene ángel; todos los estudiantes la adoran = The teacher is charming; all the students love her
- Tener el corazón de piedra = to be hard-hearted
A él nada le conmueve. Tiene el corazón de piedra = Nothing moves him. He is hard-hearted.
- Tener un corazón que no cabe en el pecho = To be all heart
Tu abuelo es muy generoso; tiene un corazón que no le cabe en el pecho = Your gandpa is very generous; he is all heart
- Tener buena estrella = To be lucky
Lucas tiene buena estrella; ha ganado la lotería dos veces = Lucas is lucky; he won the lottery twice
- Tener inconveniente en = To mind, to object to
No tengo inconveniente en cambiar la fecha de la fiesta = I don’t mind changing the date of the party
- Tener malas pulgas = To be bad tempered
Tu tío tiene malas pulgas y se enfada facilmente = Your uncle is bad tempered and gets annoyed easily
- Tener pájaros en la cabeza = To be featherbrained, to be away with the fairies
Hoy Pablo tiene pájaros en la cabeza y se despista muy a menudo= Today Pablo is away with the fairies and gets distracted very often
- Tener madera para = To be made for, to be cut out for
Sara tiene madera para el ballet = Sara is made for ballet
- Tener mala cara = To look bad, to not look well
Tienes mala cara. ¿Te encuentras bien? = You don’t look well. Are you fine?
- No tener pies ni cabeza = To not make any sense
Tus argumentaciones no tienen pie ni cabeza = Your arguments doesn’t make any sense
- No tener donde caerse muerto = To not have a penny to one’s name /not have two pennies to rub together
Desperdició todos sus ahorros y ahora no tiene donde caerse muerto = He wasted all his savings and now he doesn’t have two pennies to rub together
- No tener dos dedos de frente = To be slow on the uptake
Lucas sigue haciendo los mismos errores. No tiene dos dedos de frente = Lucas keeps making the same mistakes. He is slow on the uptake
- Tener los nervios de puntas = To be a nervous wreck, to be very nervous
Mañana tengo el examen de francés y tengo los nervios de puntas = Tomorrow I ‘ll have my French exam and I am a nervous wreck
- No tener pelos en la lengua = To not mince words
Alejandra no tiene pelos en la lengua y a veces falta de tacto = Alejandra doent’s mince words and sometimes she is tactless
- No tener (ni) un pelo de tonto = To be nobody’s fool
Paco no tiene un pelo de tonto y sabe perfectamente cómo enfrentarse a esta situación = Paco is nobody’s fool and knows well how to face this issue
We hope this post on idioms with TENER will help you sound like a Spanish native speaker ?
As usual, we encourage you to expand your vocabulary with new Spanish verbs and words.
If you want to learn Spanish from scratch or upgrade your knowledge, El Rincón del Tándem Spanish school gives you the chance to do it by having fun, here in Valencia ?
¡Hasta pronto!
