Tener preterit

Question

What does tener mean in the preterit exactly? Because I know in the imperfect tenía mean I use to have.

Answer 1

tuve = I had

tuviste = you had

tuvo = he/she/it had

tuve que = I had to (idiomatic)

tuviste que = you had to (idiomatic)

You get the idea....

Answer 2

In the preterit it means something I had at a certain point in time, while the imperfect means something I had over an indistinct period of time.

So ayer tuve que lavar los platos: Yesterday I had to wash the dishes.

Cuando vivía en Nueva York, tenía que lavar los platos. : When I lived in New York I had to wash the dishes.

Preterite vs Imperfect

tenía que lavar lost platos, the implication is, you were supposed to wash them, but you may not have washed them. With tuve que, you had to, and you actually did it, a much stronger 'had to'. Just a thought :~) - Jack-OBrien, Aug 21, 2010

Technically you're right about tenía que, but in the sentence above your interpretation makes no sense. Quite plainly I did wash the dishes. Claro como la luz del sol. - Goyo, Aug 22, 2010

I disagree completely. Using "tenía que" as you did is not "plainly I did wash the dishes". I'm sorry you don't understand my "interpretation" - Jack-OBrien, Aug 24, 2010