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"to have" in seven languages

Meaningto have

Spanish

tener

/teˈneɾ/

other source · Latin TENĒRE 'to hold'

Haber (← HABĒRE) survives as the auxiliary (he comido) and in hay 'there is'; possession went to tener.

French

avoir

/avwaʁ/

inherited

Italian

avere

/aˈvere/

inherited

The h of ho, hai, ha, hanno is pure spelling, kept to tell ho 'I have' from o 'or'.

Portuguese

ter

/teh/

other source · Latin TENĒRE 'to hold'

Romanian

avea

/aˈve̯a/

inherited

Catalan

tenir

/təˈni/

other source · Latin TENĒRE 'to hold'

Haver, from HABĒRE, survives as the auxiliary (he menjat 'I have eaten').

English

have

/hæv/

native English · Old English habban

Despite the look-alike, 'have' is not related to HABĒRE; its Latin distant cognate is CAPERE 'to take'.

English → Italianto haveavereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: habit, inhabit, exhibit (HABĒRE); tenant, tenacious, retain (TENĒRE).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

HABĒRE‘to have, hold’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

French and Italian kept HABĒRE for both 'own' and the perfect auxiliary (j'ai mangé, ho mangiato). Spanish split the job: haber builds tenses, while 'having' passed to tener, literally 'to hold'.

English relatives: habit, inhabit, exhibit (HABĒRE); tenant, tenacious, retain (TENĒRE)

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In a sentence

  • esTengo dos hermanos.
  • frJ'ai deux frères.
  • itHo due fratelli.
  • ptTenho dois irmãos.
  • roAm doi frați.
  • caTinc dos germans.
  • enI have two brothers.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words