1. Home
  2. Intermediate Spanish
  3. Equivalents of the Verb “To Be”
  4. Two More Ways to Be: Hacer and Tener

Two More Ways to Be: Hacer and Tener by Sandra Rosenstiel

Next, let's review how you talk about the weather using the verb hacer. For reasons you probably don't want to go into, Spanish uses the combination of hace + noun to describe many weather conditions. Have a look at the following examples:

Hace frío. (It's cold.)

Hace calor. (It's hot.)

Hace buen/mal tiempo. (It's nice/ bad weather.)

Hace viento. (It's windy.)

Hace sol. (It's sunny.)

The verb hacer generally means “to do” and “to make.” Obviously, the weather expressions with hace don't have these meanings nor can they be translated literally into English. You can also use hace with certain expressions of time to say how long someone has been doing something or how long it's been since something happened.

Just like hacer, the verb tener has a variety of applications, and not all of them translate literally as “to have.” Unlike hacer in the special case of weather expressions, however, tener is conjugated according to the personal subject. Consider these examples of tener to describe certain physical conditions:

Tengo frío. (I am [feel] cold.)

Tienes calor. (You are [feel] hot.)

Tenemos sed/hambre. (We are [feel] thirsty/hungry.)

Pay close attention to the uses of ser, estar, hacer, and tener. Though they all can mean “to be” in English, they are by no means interchangeable. In fact, your message may be misunderstood if you use the wrong verb with some of these expressions. In some cases, it might be embarrassing. For example, if you wanted to say you felt cold but said Soy frío instead of Tengo frío, you would actually be communicating that you were heartlessly cold, and no one would think you were referring to the temperature!

Practice: Ser, Estar, Hacer, or Tener?

Now it's time to practice a bit with these ways of “being” by translating the following. Write the Spanish translation for each on the blank line. You can check your answers in Appendix D.

  • Alberto is from Ecuador.

  • It's hot in Quito today.

  • I feel hot.

  • Julia is thirsty.

  • We're tired.

  • The coffee is cold.

  • You (ustedes) aren't happy.

  • It's not sunny in Santiago.

  • Are you (tú) thirsty?

  • They are nice people.

  1. Home
  2. Intermediate Spanish
  3. Equivalents of the Verb “To Be”
  4. Two More Ways to Be: Hacer and Tener
Visit other About.com sites:

Netplaces.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.