"has" vs "tiene"

Question

Could someone help me with understanding why we would say " Si no has (visitado)...." rather than or instead of "Si no tiene (familia)........" ,
Thanks in advance,
Patrick

[Thank you for your help. I see now, that it is haber vs tener, and understand the reason for each.]

We need more context Patrick, Has could be a version of "haber" - used in perfect tenses, - ian-hill, Sep 9, 2011

If I had had time I would have gone to the shop. One of the hads is an auxiliary one of them is the verb signifying possession. - rabbitwho, Sep 10, 2011

Answer 1

¡Hola patrick, bienvenida a SpanishDict!

As you may know, the two verbs here are "haber" and "tener." I have read multiple times that in various countries both verbs are usurping the other. However, from a scholarly vantage point, they have distinct meanings.

Haber functions as an auxiliary verb. So it must be used with another verb in order to make sense. In English our version of "haber" is "to have." But not just any "to have" but instead, "to have done." So you can say "he nadado hoy" meaning, "I have swum today."

Tener, on the other hand, aside from a few expressions, functions as a normal verb to express "possession." "Tengo dos gatos" means I have (or I own) two cats. Tener works like another Spanish verb, in some cases, "poseer."

So as to your specific question:

"Si no has" means "If you have not." (As a side note, "has" is informal)

"Si no tiene" can have two meanings. 1. "If you do not have." or 2. "if he/she/it does not have."

Notice that for the tiene example we have the word "do" an "does." These are auxiliary verbs in English that are nonexistent in Spanish. In English, for negative statements like these, it is a requirement to have the "to do" auxiliary verb, but in Spanish it makes perfect sense to ignore such concepts.

Answer 2

Has is a form of the verb haber, which is usually used as an auxiliary verb- in the sense of “he has done...". Tiene is a form of the verb tener, which means to have in the sense of possess, such as “he has that”. Other than in the special case of hay (and the equivalents in other tenses), forms of haber will generally be immediately followed by past participles as various perfect tenses. Tener will be used for a number of other equivalents to the English “to have” including to have to (tener que). Please keep in mind that “has” is not conjugated to the same person as “tiene”.

I am folowing everything with "haber" - pacofinkler, Sep 9, 2011

Answer 3

We need more context Patrick, "has" could be a version of "haber" - used in perfect tenses.

Spanish has 2 "to have" verbs - "tener" and "haber"

Answer 4

What comes after "has"? It's possible it's in the present perfect.