Ter (to have) — present tense

Full present-tense conjugation, plus the idioms 'ter fome' and 'ter … anos'.

ter is one of the most-used verbs in Portuguese — and it's irregular. You met tenho, tens, and tem in lesson 5; now you'll lock in the rest. Ter means 'to have' (possession), but it also drives a stack of idioms that English builds with 'to be': ter fome ('to be hungry', literally 'to have hunger'), ter … anos ('to be … years old', literally 'to have … years').

The full conjugation

eu tenho = I have. tu tens = you have. ele tem / ela tem / você tem = he/she has, you have. nós temos = we have. eles têm / elas têm / vocês têm = they have, you all have. The chant: tenho, tens, tem, temos, têm. The plural têm is written with a circumflex — that's how the spelling distinguishes it from the singular tem, even though in everyday speech they sound nearly identical.

Possession

Same job as English 'have': Tenho um gato = I have a cat. Tens um livro? = Do you have a book? A Ana tem dois irmãos = Ana has two brothers. Nós temos uma casa em Lisboa = We have a house in Lisbon. As always, the subject pronoun is optional — the verb form already tells you who.

The 'ter' idioms — where English uses 'to be'

ter fome = to be hungry (literally 'to have hunger'). ter sede = to be thirsty. ter sono = to be sleepy. ter frio = to be cold (the person, not the weather). ter calor = to be hot. ter medo = to be afraid. ter razão = to be right. Tenho fome = I'm hungry. Eles têm sede = They're thirsty. Don't reach for estar here — Portuguese hard-wires these states to ter.

Age — 'ter … anos'

Portuguese asks age with ter, not ser. Quantos anos tens? = How old are you? (literally 'how many years do you have?'). The answer: Tenho vinte anos = I'm twenty. Always include anos — saying just Tenho vinte sounds incomplete, like English 'I have twenty'.

PT vs BR: 'há' vs 'tem' for 'there is/are'

Standard 'there is/are' in Portugal is há (from the verb haver): Há um gato na casa = There's a cat in the house. Há cinco livros na mesa = There are five books on the table. In everyday Brazilian speech, people use tem instead: Tem um gato na casa, Tem cinco livros na mesa — exactly the same meaning, just the ter verb pressed into service. Both are correct in their register; há is the safer bet in writing.

Examples

Tenho um irmão.

I have a brother.

ter for possession — first-person singular tenho.

Tens fome?

Are you hungry?

ter fome = to be hungry. Literally 'do you have hunger?'

Ela tem vinte anos.

She is twenty years old.

Age in Portuguese uses ter, not ser. Always include anos.

Nós temos uma casa em Lisboa.

We have a house in Lisbon.

nós temos — first-person plural.

Eles têm dois cães.

They have two dogs.

têm with a circumflex marks the plural in writing.

Quantos anos tens?

How old are you?

Literally 'how many years do you have?' Brazilian speakers tend to say Quantos anos você tem?.

Há água na mesa.

There is water on the table.

Standard PT for 'there is'. BR everyday speech: Tem água na mesa.