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Spanish frequency list

No. 2,462 in Spanish

tenía

"Tenía" means "had" (imperfect tense of "tener").

In a sentence

  • Él tenía un coche rojo.

    He had a red car.

    The verb "tenía" is used as an imperfect past tense of "tener," indicating possession in the context of an ongoing past action.

  • Tenía muchas ganas de visitarte.

    I really wanted to visit you.

    Here "tenía" expresses an emotional or mental state in the imperfect past tense, showing continuing desire or feeling in the past.

  • En esa época, yo tenía tres años.

    At that time, I was three years old.

    The word "tenía" in this sentence indicates an age within the imperfect past tense, a common usage in Spanish when telling one's age in past contexts.

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