TENER & HACER To express “TO BE”

Fill-in-the-blank When “to be” means “to feel” and the subject is a person or an animal, “to be warm, cold,” etc., is expressed by using the verb tener.

Tener calor  to be warm or hot Tener frío  to be cold

Tener hambre  to be hungry Tener sed  to be thirsty

Tener sueño  to be sleepy

Tener pena  to be embarrassed Tener vergüenza  to be ashamed or embarrassed

Tener miedo  to be afraid

There are other idioms that use the verb tener that you should know: Tener ganas de  to feel like (doing something); to want to (do something ¿Qué tienes?  What’s the matter with you? Tener que + verb  to have to do something

Tener cuidado  to be careful

Tener prisa  to be in a hurry

. Tener … años  to be … years old. Tengo _____ años.

(No) Tener razón  to be right (wrong)

¿Qué tiempo hace?  How’s the weather? When “to be” describes the weather, most expressions use the verb hacer: ¿Qué tiempo hace?  How’s the weather? Hace buen (mal) tiempo.  the weather is nice (bad).

Hace (mucho) frío.  It’s (very) cold. Hace (mucho) calor.  It’s (very) hot/warm. Hace fresco.  It’s cool (weather). Hace viento/sol.  It’s windy/sunny.

The weather is not described with the verb estar *The weather is not described with the verb estar. This verb describes the condition of objects or people: El café está frío.  The coffee is cold. El niño está caliente. Tiene fiebre.  The child is hot. He has a fever.

REMINDER: “There is/are” is expressed with the verb Hay. The question “Is/Are there?” is expressed ¿Hay?.