Kilo Lingo
Spanish grammar Part of Chapter 6

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (19 questions)

Tener Expressions in Spanish: Tengo Hambre, Tengo Frío

By Michael McGettrick and Sergio Linares-HernandesUpdated 12 October 2026

Where English says I am hungry, Spanish says I have hunger:

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

  • . - I'm hungry.
  • ¿ ? - Are you cold?
  • . - I'm twenty.

The ten tener expressions

The whole set on one screen. Each one is plus a noun:

tenerestarhacermasculinefeminineWhat do the colours mean?
SpanishLiterallyEnglish
to have hungerto be hungry
to have thirstto be thirsty
to have coldto be cold
to have heatto be hot
to have sleepinessto be sleepy
to have fearto be afraid
to have hasteto be in a hurry
to have reasonto be right
to have luckto be lucky
to have 20 yearsto be twenty
Four people: a man with a moustache, sweating under a hot sun, fans himself (hot); a woman in a scarf shivers as snow falls (cold); a boy with an empty plate stares open-mouthed, his tummy rumbling and an apple in his thought bubble (hungry); a girl with pigtails yawns under the moon (sleepy).
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .

Hot, cold, hungry, sleepy: each person has it, so tener.

is irregular in the present:

PersonSingularPlural
1st
2nd
3rd
  • . - We' in a hurry.
  • . - My sister is afraid of dogs.
  • . - You' right.

and are both wrong: is a noun, and a feeling after has to be an adjective, as in - I'm tired.

Your age: tener años

Age is something you have, counted in years:

  • . - I'm twenty.
  • . - My grandmother is eighty.
  • ¿ ? - How old are you?

Keep : alone is heard, but the full form is never wrong. always is.

Very: mucho or mucha

The word after is a noun, so very is , never . And agrees with the noun:

Noun genderSpanishEnglish
masculine .I'm very cold.
masculine .I'm very sleepy.
feminine .I'm very hungry.
feminine .I'm very thirsty.
feminine .I'm in a real hurry.

is feminine even though it takes ( ), the same rule as el agua. So it is .

is the odd one out: is fine, but the usual way to stress it is :

  • . - You' absolutely right.
  • . - You' right.

Tener, estar or hacer?

Cold and heat can take three verbs, depending on what is cold:

What is coldSpanishEnglish
a person .I'm cold.
the weather .It's cold out.
a thing .The soup is cold.
a person .I'm hot.
the weather .It's hot out.
a thing .The coffee is hot.

With and the word is a noun, or . With it is an adjective, which agrees with the thing: . The weather has its own page: impersonal verbs.

Miedo de, ganas de: adding what

Two of these phrases take to say what of:

  • . - I'm afraid of the dark.
  • . - I feel like sleeping.

plus an infinitive is how Spanish says to feel like doing something. More phrases built the same way ( , ) are on Spanish set phrases, and have to is tener que.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. . is a noun
. .age takes
. .very with a noun is
. . is feminine
. .feeling cold takes
. .the weather takes

What to do next

  1. Do the -or- sort and the spot-the-mistake drill below.
  2. Say how you feel right now, in one sentence.
  3. Then Spanish set phrases for , and .

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/7

Tener or estar? Which verb goes with each word?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

Pick the right one

0/5

Tap the natural Spanish.

  1. I'm cold. (I feel cold)

  2. It's cold today. (the weather)

  3. The soup is cold.

  4. How old are you? (to a friend)

  5. You're absolutely right.

Translation drill

0/3

Translate into English.

  1. Tengo mucho sueño.

  2. Mi hermana tiene miedo de los perros.

  3. Tenemos prisa.

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Frequently asked questions

Why is it and not ?
Because is a noun, hunger, and Spanish says you have it: (I'm hungry). A feeling after has to be an adjective ( , I'm tired), so is wrong, and would say I am hunger. The same goes for (I'm thirsty), (I'm cold) and (I'm afraid).
How do you say I am very hungry in Spanish?
. The word after is a noun, so very is or , never , and it agrees with the noun. and are feminine, so and ; , , and are masculine, so and .
How do you say your age in Spanish?
With and : (I'm twenty), (my grandmother is eighty). The question is ¿ ? (how old are you?). Never or , and keep : on its own is heard, but the full form is the safe one.
Is it , or ?
It depends on what is cold. A person feeling cold has it: (I'm cold). The weather makes it: (it's cold out). A thing that is cold to the touch takes and an adjective: (the soup is cold).
How do you say you are right in Spanish?
, literally you have reason. To stress it, Spanish usually says (you' absolutely right). The opposite is : (you' wrong).