Thursday 12 January 2012

BE, not HAVE!

As you know, in Spanish we use "tener" to talk about age, but in English we use BE:

Tiene veintitantos= he's in his twenties.
Tenía más de treinta años = he was over thirty (years old).

Here are some other common expressions where you need BE (and not HAVE). The reason is that in Spanish we say tener + sustantivo, but in English it's BE + adjective:

-Tiene frío = She's cold.
-Tenían calor = they were hot (en realidad no sabemos decir "calor". Literalmente decimos
"estaban calientes").
-Tenía razón = she was right.
-No tienes razón =You're wrong.

Finally, remember the expression "tener prisa": to be in a hurry

I have to go now. I'm in a hurry.

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