What does "que" mean in "Tengo que" and "Hay que" respectively?
What does "que" mean in "Tengo que" and "Hay que" respectively?
7 Answers
Tengo que ('I have to', a form of the expression 'tener que'- to have to) and hay que (one must) are idiomatic expressions, meaning that each word by itself doesn't necessarily "make sense" or "mean" anything, but as a whole they have a certain meaning. For example in English we say "To be into something" as in to be interested in it, like "I am into sports" or "I am into drawing". We are not really "into" anything, and that actually makes no sense whatsoever, but that's just how we say it in English. Same thing in Spanish. The 'que' in 'tengo que' really doesn't "mean" anything per se, but it's there because that's how they say it. Same with 'hay que'. If you want, you can think of it as meaning 'to' as in 'I have to do something' in English, but be careful that you don't confuse yourself and use the wrong form of the verb; after both 'tengo que' and 'hay que', the verb is always an infinitive, or the unconjugated -ar, -er, or -ir form). Some examples to close:
- Tengo que leer diez páginas de este libro.
I have to read ten pages of this book.
- Hay que estudiar antes de tomar un examen.
One must study before taking a test.
- Él tiene que limpiar su cuarto.
He has to clean his room.
- Hay que comer para vivir.
One must eat (in order) to live.
Hi Indilover: Why don't you open a new thread with your own question?
this is an older thread, it would be more useful.
thanks a lot and welcome to the forum 
Thing I'm confused about is que usually means "what" and "a" means to so how come you wouldn't say "Tengo a" and say "que" instead?
delete
Yes, Lauren is correct. "Tengo que" means "I have to" .. followed by what you have to do, generally in the infinitive form. "Hay que" expresses necessity to do something generally without a subject (who has to do it) being explicitly identified. Por ejemplo, "Hay que comprar el libro 'Puntos de Partida' para esta clase. It is necessary to buy (or one must buy) the book 'Starting Points for this class." Like tengo que, hay que is followed by an infinitive. It is best not to try to do word for word translations. Languages do not always work that way; in these cases it is best not to try to assign a meaning to "que" but learn the meaning of the phrases.
it means to have to for 'Tengo que' as that would be 'I have to' - Tengo que is to have to do something + an infinitive 
I have to read three books. = Tengo que leer tres libros.
Three books have to be read. = Hay que leer tres libros.
When you add the word Tengo in a spanish sentence it automatically refers to yourself, it is like saying "I have to" or "I have" that is what "Tengo" means. It is basically something refering to you. "que" just refers to the word "to". Hope this helps, I always add a little extra information to explain the sentence better, good luck.
