Idioms with ‘tener’
[A] Complete this conjugation table for ‘tener’ (= to have). The shaded
boxes should not be filled in:
INFINITIVE: tener
GERUND: teniendo
PAST PARTICIPLE: tenido
PRESENT FUTURE CONDITIONAL
PRETERITE
IMPERFECT
I
YOU
HE/SHE
WE
YOU
THEY
[B] What do these idioms mean?
1. tener
2. tener
3. tener
4. tener
5. tener
6. tener
7. tener
8. tener
9. tener
10.tener
11.tener
12.tener
calor
cariño
celos
cuidado
la culpa
derecho
éxito
frío
ganas de
hambre
ilusión
miedo a / de
13.tener prisa
14.tener que
15.tener razón
16.tener sed
17.tener sueño
18.tener suerte
19.tener vergüenza
20.tener … de largo
21.no tener nada que ver con
22.tener lugar
23.tener en cuenta
24.estar que no tenerse
[C] ‘Tener’ is a verb that is very flexible in Spanish. Many prefixes can
be added to it to create new verbs. Can you create new verbs by
selecting from the prefixes below and attaching them to ‘tener’? What
do the new verbs mean?
Abs- / Con- / De- / Entre- / Man- / Ob- / Re- / Sos…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
[D] Read the following paragraph and then attempt the subsequent
exercises:
Why is ‘tener’ used in Spanish whereas ‘be’ is used in English? The
answer partly lies in its etymology. English, along with other Germanic
languages (e.g. German, Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish) developed the
concept of ‘be’ + adjective, whereas the Romance languages (e.g.
Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian and Spanish) developed out of
the Latin ‘tenere’ +noun. In Latin ‘tenere’ comes from the root ten- or
tan- which was related to Greek and Sanskrit. The Sanskrit word
‘tanomi’ means ‘to stretch’ or ‘to spread’ (think of the Spanish noun ‘el
tenedor’ = ‘fork’, i.e. something that pulls meat apart by stretching /
dragging; or ‘la tienda’ = ‘tent’, i.e. a covering that stretches across a
frame to provide shelter). In Latin the meaning expanded further to
include the concepts of ‘holding onto’ and ‘belonging to’. Although
English commonly uses Germanic roots (e.g. ‘have’ and ‘be’), English
has many cognates based on ‘tenere’ (e.g. content / tenant / tension).
(a) Draw a flow chart to show the development of ‘tenere’ from
Sanskrit to its borrowed use in English.
(b) Apart from the examples given in the passage what other words
in Spanish do you know owe part of their meaning to ‘tener’.
(c) What English cognates based on ‘tenere’ can you think of apart
from the three examples given in the passage above?