Do You Have A Cough?

Introduction

This post deals with a typical use of the verb tener*.

See other practical examples of the use of tener

SCENARIO

Imagine you are in the doctor's surgery. Whilst examining you, the doctor says: "do you have a cough?"

In Spanish, the doctor could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Tienes tos?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Tiene usted tos?

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OUR TIP

A straightforward yes/ no answer could be sufficient. But if you wanted to be more informative you could say:

• Sí, tengo tos (yes, I have a cough);
• Sí, tengo un poco de tos (yes, I have a little cough);
• Sí, tengo mucha tos (yes, I cough a lot);
• No, no tengo tos (no, I don't have a cough);

Now you should practise answering the question:

¿Tienes tos?

*See uses of verb tener below

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*Verb Tener - Typical Uses/ Expressions

Tener calor	To feel hot
Tener celos	To feel jealousy/ to be jealous
Tener cuidado	To be careful
Tener dolor	To feel pain/ to have an ache
Tener envidia	To feel envy/ to be envious
Tener fiebre	To be feverish
Tener frío	To feel cold
Tener ganas de algo	To look forward to something
Tener hambre	To feel hungry
Tener la culpa	To be at fault
Tener miedo	To feel afraid
Tener pensado	To have in mind
Tener prisa	To be in hurry
Tener sed	To feel thirsty
Tener sueño	To feel sleepy
Tener suerte	To be lucky
Tener tos	To have a cough
Tener xx* años/ meses/ etc.	To be xx years/ months/ etc. old
Tenerle rabia a alguien	To have it in for someone

*NB Express ages by conjugating tener and replacing xx with a number. For example, I am 18 years old = tengo 18 años.

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