Tener, hacer, and ir

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Use tener for possession, age, and physical needs

Tener means to have. Its present forms are tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. Notice that the middle vowel changes in several forms, while the yo form is especially distinctive. Learn tengo tiempo as a whole phrase, then substitute another thing you have.

Spanish uses tener for age: tengo veinte años means I am twenty years old. Tengo hambre and tengo sed mean I am hungry and I am thirsty. They are useful expressions to learn as units, not by translating English to be word for word.

Use hacer for activities and weather

Hacer means to do or to make. The yo form is hago; the other present forms are haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen. Hago la tarea means I do my homework. Different nouns lead to different expressions, so learn the verb together with its usual partner.

Hacer also appears in weather expressions such as hace frío and hace calor. These are impersonal phrases: they describe the weather, rather than a person doing something. Do not add es to them.

Ir: going to a place

Ir means to go and has distinctive forms: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van. Use a before a destination: voy a la biblioteca. A combines with el as al, so going to the museum is voy al museo.

For now, focus on a destination after ir. Later, you will add a second verb to talk about a plan. Practice telling someone where you go, then ask where they go using ¿Adónde vas? or ¿A dónde vas? Both spellings are accepted.

Lesson vocabulary

Listen once, say it aloud, and try to recall the Spanish before looking.

Practice questions

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Independent practice

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