Verbs related to 'Tener'

[Matthew]

Speaking Spanish, you will come across 'tener' all the time, meaning 'to have' or 'to possess'. Like many other common verbs, it is irregular.

There are a number of verbs that are derived from 'tener', and they all have the same irregularities. Although 'tener' does not have a cognate in English (a word that it looks like), the verbs that are derived from it correspond to the English verbs that end in '-tain'. Here is a list of the common ones:

Mantener - to maintain

Retener - to retain

Sostener - to sustain

Obtener - to obtain

Abstener - to abstain

Entretener - to entertain

Contener - to contain

and so on.

Just to illustrate the point about the conjugation, here are a couple of examples:

I maintain - mantengo

It contained - contuvo

I will obtain - obtendré

Matthew

[patricia poirier]

Hi Matt--this was very informative. I have learned about tener, but had not associated it with these English infinitives.. I am finding your site very helpful.

[Matthew]

Glad to hear it Patricia.

Are you able to write any Spanish yet?

Go on, have a go!!!

Matthew