To Have – Verbo ter

Verb To have – Present Tense:

Study the conjugation of verb tener (to have) in the present tense:

	Person	Tener (to have) congugation	English translation
Singular	Eu	tenho	I have
	Ele, Ela, Você, a gente	tem	He has / She has / You have / We have
Plural	Nós	temos	We have
	Eles, Elas, Vocês	tem	They have / You have

How to use verb “ter”?

Verb “ter” can be used in two different ways in Portuguese:

1. To express that someone possesses something.

Examples:

• (Eu) Tenho um cachorro. (I have a dog)
• Ele tem um cachorro. (He has a dog)
• Ela tem um cachorro (She has a dog)
• Você tem um cachorro (You have a dog)
• A gente tem um cachorro (She have a dog)
• (Nós) Temos um cachorro. (We have a dog)
• Eles têm um cahorro. (They have a dog)
• Vocês têm um cachorro. (You have a dog)

2. To express that someone has to do something. In this case it is necessary to use the following formula: (person) + ter (conjugated according to the person) + que + verb in the infinitive form.

I have to – (Eu) Tenho que

Examples:

• (Eu) Tenho que limpar a casa. (I have to clean the house)
• Você tem que limpar a casa. (You have to clean the house)
• Ele tem que limpar a casa. (He has to clean the house)
• Ela tem que limpar a casa. (She has to clean the house)
• A gente tem que limpar a casa. (We have to clean the house)
• (Nós) Temos que limpar a casa. (We have to clean the house)
• Eles têm que limpar a casa. (They have to clean the house)
• Vocês têm que limpar a casa. (You have to clean the house – formal)