Using "tener" or "estár" for a cold coffee (café)?

Question

Hi all

I know this question may have been asked before, but I really would like to have a clear and simple answer to refer to.

From my elementary Spanish instruction booklet,

I am cold. = Tengo frío.

He is cold. = El tiene frío.

The coffee is cold. = El café está frío. Why not "El café tiene frío"?

Can someone please explain??

Also, it reads

Charles is very cold. = Carlos tiene muy frío

Charles is very tall = Carlos es muy alto.

Why tener form for one adjective and estár form for another adjective to describe a person??

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Dec 27, 2016

Answer 1

This is what I'd understand depending on what you say:

Carlos tiene frío. Carlos is cold.
Carlos es frío. Carlos is a cold person (he is distant).
Carlos está frío. Carlos' skin is cold.

I guess that in Spanish there are things we see as possesions but in English it is different.
You say: I'm hungry but we say Tengo hambre.
You say: I'm 25 years old but we say Tengo 25 años.
The same happens with being hot or cold: Tengo calor/tengo frío.

El café is not a person, so it can't HAVE cold but it IS cold. I'm sorry if this is not a very explicative answer, I think that these are the differences between the two languages that you have to learn by heart.

Edit: I just remembered a song my María Elena Walsh, here is the lyrics This is a part of the song:

La leche tiene frío
yo la abrigaré,
le pondré un sobretodo mío
largo hasta los pies,
yo no sé por qué.

It says la leche tiene frío, yo la abrigaré because in this case the song treats the milk as if it were a person. It does the same with the honey (detrás de una tostada, se escondió la miel...)

Thanks mariifer. Can you please also explain a little bit about the second part of my question? Is it a rule that we should use "es" instead of "tiene" when describing a tall person? I'm guessing the tener form is only used with a few selected expressi - Negredo, Dec 27, 2016

Answer 2

As a person who has studied several languages is fluent in two of them--advanced in a few others, I can say that the one question that many persons ask is "Why do they do that?"

There is no real answer to that except to say that it's just the way the language developed. French and Italian have similar expressions for something or somebody being hot or cold or whatever.

If you are going to speak another language, just realize that there are going to be these expressions and strange rules of grammar that don't seem to make any sense.

When I was first learning English, when being introduced to someone for the first time, people would say, "How do you do?" This was confusing--How do I do what?

Also other expressions like "put the fire out" --"Out where?" There are countless illogical expressions in English and other languages that just must be learned---and not analyzed.

A language professional like myself, who is into scientific linguistics can analyze what is happening in a language, but to an untrained person, these little linguistic idiosyncrasies remain a mystery. Most proficient bi-lingual and multi-lingual persons just accept them for what they are and use them proficiently.

I can never think of those when I need them. I love "put the fire out". It makes no sense at all if you think about it. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 27, 2016

"put the light out" too : - ian-hill, Dec 27, 2016

Chuckles, but they do make interesting a hearty companion. - oledog, Dec 27, 2016

Wow! - rac1, Dec 27, 2016

Answer 3

Is it a rule that we should use "es" instead of "tiene" when describing a tall person?

You should read carefully Marifer´s answer, it explains it well.

If I can add to it I will say that there isn´t a rule for this but just that this is basic structure of the language. Es is an adjective used to discribe the nature of someone / something. Estar is an adjective used to discribe the state or condition of someone / something.

Tener, which is used with nouns, however can sometimes be used with non-human things, ie: El edificio tiene 50 años. So this stuff is for memorization.

Thanks Julian. :) - rac1, Dec 27, 2016

Answer 4

Hi!

With the first question you use "tener" when you talk about a person and "estar" for pretty much everything else.

Ex: Yo tengo hambre. Él tiene calor. Ellos tienen que ir a trabajar.

La ropa esta mojada. El piso esta resbaloso. La bolsa esta muy grande.

About the sentence: "Charles is very cold" the translation is wrong, it should be "Carlos tiene mucho frio"

Hope this helps

Quick question - for the statements about the clothes, floor, and bag, why did you use estar? Shouldn't ser be used? - KRavishankar19, Dec 27, 2016

Mojado and resbaloso are conditions that should be used with estar normally. Grande is a characteristic, and normally used with ser. When used with estar it gives a sense of bigger than expected. - bosquederoble, Dec 27, 2016

Tú hijo está muy grande. Your son is bigger than I expected- big for his age, or it has been a long time, and he looks very different than last. This anyway is my understanding as a non-native speaker. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 27, 2016

Sort of a "My, has he grown". :) - bosquederoble, Dec 27, 2016

Answer 5

Thanks mariifer.

Can you please also explain a little bit about the second part of my question?

Is it a rule that we should use "es" instead of "tiene" when describing a tall person?

I'm guessing the tener form is only used with a few selected expressions, which are (kind of) idiomatic in nature.

This is the asnwer box. Add comments or edit your main post. - Oshnaj, Dec 27, 2016