Saying "I had" "Tuve" y "Tenia"

Question

So, ive seen "Had" used as two ways "Tenia" y "Tuve" Which one do i use?? Like where do i use it???

Gracias Todos.

Answer 1

Hola TatorTot.

Tuve is "preterite tense". It's something you had at a certain point in time.

Tenía is "imperfect tense". You had it for an unknown period of time. Often it is translated as "I used to have-"

See Preterite tense

And Imperfect Tense

Both are listed under Verbs in The Reference Section

Answer 2

All the answers are correct but everybody forgot that have also means "Haber" and like english is also an auxiliar verb," I have had money " " He tenido dinero "

Answer 3

The perfect simple past is used when speaking about an action that happened in the past and is already finished.

That week I had a great opportunity.

Esa semana tuve una gran oportunidad.

The imperfect past is used to refer to an action which was occurring in the past. and usually refers to a period of time.

When I was living in London, I had many friends.

Cuando estuve viviendo en Londres, tenía muchos amigos.

Answer 4

Tuve and tenía are some of the harder words to get used to.

Tuve que renunciar, tenía que renunciar. Which is right? Seems like tuve but I've seen tenía there too.

Ahora sabía que tenía que renunciar a mi trabajo

No tuve opción. Tuve que renunciar a mi trabajo.

I guess in the first one he hadn't quit yet but in the second he had. Also tuve can mean something like "received" in certain situations.