tenir
“tenir” — to have in Catalan. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. The jo form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold all take it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred. In a live sentence: “Tinc un amic aquí” — I have a friend here. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 13 words in the set “verbs” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | tenir |
| Translation | to have |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
- tenirto have
Why it looks that way
The jo form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold all take it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Tinc un amic aquíI have a friend here
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- socI amThe jo form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character: sóc d'aquí, sóc metge. For states and location the other verb, estar, steps in: estic bé, estic a casa
- vullI wantFrom voler, to want. Asking with a bare vull is blunt; volia — 'I would like' — is softer
- anarto goThe most irregular verb in Catalan: vaig, vas, va, anem. But it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
- menjarto eatBoth 'to eat' and 'to have lunch': menjem a les dos? — shall we have lunch at two? The noun 'food' is the same word: el menjar
- beureto drinkTo drink in the plain sense. Softer and broader is prendre: prenguem alguna cosa? — shall we get something to drink?
- llegirto readThe jo form is llegeixo: an eix grows between the root and the ending. Many verbs do this — it is the rule, not the exception
- parlarto speakTo speak and to talk. To say something concrete is another verb, dir: diu que sí — he says yes
- treballarto workTo work on something is treballar en; to work as something is treballar de
- viureto liveTo live somewhere and to be alive. Viure a — live in a place, viure de — live on something
- hi hathere isAn impersonal form: it changes for neither person nor number — hi ha un cafè, hi ha dos cafès. Also the word in no hi ha de què — don't mention it
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to have” in Catalan?
The jo form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold all take it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred
- How do you say “to speak” in Catalan?
To speak and to talk. To say something concrete is another verb, dir: diu que sí — he says yes
- How do you say “to go” in Catalan?
The most irregular verb in Catalan: vaig, vas, va, anem. But it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
- How do you say “there is” in Catalan?
An impersonal form: it changes for neither person nor number — hi ha un cafè, hi ha dos cafès. Also the word in no hi ha de què — don't mention it
- How do you say “to read” in Catalan?
The jo form is llegeixo: an eix grows between the root and the ending. Many verbs do this — it is the rule, not the exception
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to have” in Catalan?
«tenir». In a live sentence: “Tinc un amic aquí” — I have a friend here. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The jo form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold all take it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how this sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.