The Imperfect Tense of tener is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Tenía muchos libros cuando era niño. (I had many books when I was a child.)

Tener follows the standard conjugation pattern for verbs ending in -er in the Imperfect Tense, with the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Tener (to have) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of tener is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as descriptions and states of being.

Possession: For example, Cuando era niño, tenía muchos juguetes. (When I was a child, I had many toys.)

Age: For example, El año pasado, tenía 25 años. (Last year, I was 25 years old.)

Obligation or necessity: For example, Tenía que estudiar para el examen. (I had to study for the exam.)

Idiomatic expressions: For example, No tenía ni idea de lo que estaba pasando. (I had no idea what was going on.) Or, La tenía tomada conmigo. (Rude: They had it out for me.)

Descriptions: For example, El cielo tenía un color naranja precioso al atardecer. (The sky had a beautiful orange color at sunset.)

Repeated actions: For example, Cada verano, teníamos una fiesta en la playa. (Every summer, we used to have a party at the beach.)

Examples

Examples of Tener in the Imperfect Tense

Yo tenía mucha hambre después de caminar todo el día. (I was very hungry after walking all day.)

Ellos tenían que levantarse temprano para ir al trabajo. (They had to get up early to go to work.)

¿Tenías planes para el fin de semana? (Did you have plans for the weekend?)

Nosotros teníamos una casa grande con un jardín enorme. (We had a big house with a huge garden.)

Ustedes tenían razón, no debimos haber ido a esa fiesta. (You were right, we should not have gone to that party.)

Ella tenía un perro muy cariñoso cuando era niña. (She had a very affectionate dog when she was a child.)

¿Teníais suficiente dinero para comprar los boletos? (Did you all have enough money to buy the tickets?)

Mis amigos y yo teníamos la costumbre de reunirnos los viernes por la noche. (My friends and I had the habit of getting together on Friday nights.)

Él tenía un trabajo estresante pero bien pagado. (He had a stressful but well-paid job.)

Vosotros teníais que estudiar más para el examen. (You all had to study more for the exam.)

Ellas tenían un piso pequeño pero acogedor en el centro de la ciudad. (They had a small but cozy apartment in the city center.)

Yo tenía la impresión de que no le caía bien a tu hermano. (I had the impression that your brother didn’t like me.)

¿Teníais problemas para encontrar estacionamiento? (Did you all have trouble finding parking?)

Nosotros teníamos que madrugar para llegar a tiempo al aeropuerto. (We had to wake up early to get to the airport on time.)

Ellos tenían una relación complicada, pero se querían mucho. (They had a complicated relationship, but they loved each other very much.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Tener (to have) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.