Tenga o Tengo

Question

So i was talking to some spanish guy , and i wanted to tell him to have a good day so i used ''to tenga un buen dia'' then i felt that it should've been tengo

so which one is right ?

I would say "tenga" because you are expressing a wish so it would be in the subjunctive. So you got it right but you should not use "to." - Sassette, Aug 30, 2015

...so it's "tenga un buen dia." I put this in the comment section, not an answer, because I am not a native speaker and my Spanish is not very good. So hopefully we can get confirmation from someone. - Sassette, Aug 30, 2015

Hi Dana.... Please take a moment to add your Spanish level and native language to your profile. Thanks. - rac1, Aug 30, 2015

"Tengo" would mean "I have" -- obviously not your intent. - jtaniel, Aug 30, 2015

Thank you for filling out your profile , worth a vote from me . - ray76, Sep 1, 2015

Answer 1

I would say 'Que tengas un buen día' It would be usual to use tú to your boyfriend. The quiero/espero/deseo at the start is implied. You could use Ojala As you know you use the subjunctive after the earlier verbs. However, I'm not a native speaker so look for other answers.

Ah, having reread your post he may just be a guy - if so 'tenga' may be better

If they are in Spain, young people use tu between themselves, no need to be a boyfriend. - annierats, Aug 30, 2015

Mexico too. - jtaniel, Aug 30, 2015

He's not my boyfriend :p I barely even know him but he's younger than me - DanaAGarcia, Aug 31, 2015

Answer 2

Tenga = To refer to YOU, express a wish (Que tenga un buen día = Have a nice day).

Tengo = To refer to ME, express a fact (Tengo un buen día = So far, I am having a nice day).

You can also use "tenga" as a wild card, to refer to the person in context:

"Dormí bien. Ojalá TENGA un buen día" (I slept well, so I wish that I have a nice day).

"Durmió bien. Ojalá TENGA un buen día" (He -or she- slept well, so I wish that he -or she- has a nice day).

Is weird how a simple letter can change the sense and even the feeling of the idea, but don't worry too much, as I told before even we the Spanish people have huge mistakes with the Spanish.

Good luck.

Wouldn't it be "ojalá que tenga..."? - Winkfish, Aug 31, 2015

Que with ojalá is optional, and most frequently not used in my experience. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 31, 2015

Probably is because when you say "ojala QUE tenga un buen día" you don't need to give a context, and "QUE" would mean something like "whatever happens or will happen... I wish I have a nice day". - Tygrus, Aug 31, 2015

Thanks!! - Winkfish, Aug 31, 2015

Answer 3

tenga buen día

or que tenga buen día

Answer 4

I am noticing right now that when we use "ojalá", most of the time it has to be with oneself:

"Ojalá que no llueva"

Even if in this statement I am not talking about me directly, the wish "don't rain" is related to the fact that I don't like to get wet, hence I wish it wont rain. For another person, we better say "Espero que no te llueva" or "Deseo que no te llueva" because we want to express a good feeling to happen to another person (remotely we could say "ojalá que no te llueva").