Tener o Haber

Question

Tener or Haber? What's the difference between the two, how is each one used? Are they the same? -Thanks

Answer 1

Tener and Haber literally both mean "to have".

The only thing is that tener is used when talking about possession. For example: "Yo TENGO pelo rubio" means "I have blonde hair".

Haber, however, means have when using it as in "I have already done my homework" Or in Spanish, "Ya lo HE (yo conjugation of haber) hecho mi tarea"

You can also use tener when talking about things that you have to do using "tener que" For example: "Él TIENE QUE hacer sus quehaceres" meaning he has to do his chores.

There's also a lot of phrases using tener: 1. tener sed - to be thirsty 2. tener prisa - to be in a hurry 3. tener ganas de - to have the urge to...

Haber has a ton of different uses, and it would take a really long time for me to type them all but here's a few:

1. When talking about what there is, like "There is a dog in the kitchen." You would say "HAY un perro en la cocina." That conjugation is just something you'll just have to remember.
   1. When you're saying what you would have done or what might have happened under certain circumstances. For example: "Si ella HUBIERA comprado naipes, nosotros HUBIERAMOS jugado." Meaning "If she had bought cards, we could've played."