Monday 9 June 2014

Who Envies You?

Introduction


This post showcases/ highlights a typical use of the verb tener*.





SCENARIO


Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a work colleague about the jealousy/ envy which exist between some of your friends.

At some point, the other person says: "who envies you?"

In Spanish, he/she could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Quién te tiene envidia?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Quién le tiene envidia a usted?


OUR TIP

Answering this question should be straightforward. Naming the person who feels jealous may be sufficient. However, you may use the expression tener envidia to make your answer more informative.



Here are some examples of how you could use that expression:
  • Mucha gente me tiene envidia (many people envy me);
  • Algunos me tienen envidia (some people envy me);
  • Pedro me tiene envidia (Pedro envies me);
  • María me tiene envidia (María envies me);
  • Pedro y María me tienen envidia (Pedro and María envy me);

Now you should practise answering the question:
¿Quién te tiene envidia?

*See uses of verb tener below

*Verb tener - Typical Uses/ Expressions

Tener calor To feel hot
Tener celos To feel jealousy/ to be jealous
Tener cuidado To be careful
Tener dolor To feel pain/ to have an ache
Tener envidia To feel envy/ to be envious
Tener fiebre To be feverish
Tener frío To feel cold
Tener ganas de algo To look forward to something
Tener hambre To feel hungry
Tener la culpa To be at fault
Tener miedo To feel afraid
Tener pensado To have in mind
Tener prisa To be in hurry
Tener sed To feel thirsty
Tener sueño To feel sleepy
Tener suerte To be lucky
Tener tos To have a cough
Tener xx* años/ meses/ etc. To be xx years/ months/ etc. old
Tenerle rabia a alguien To have it in for someone

*NB Express ages by conjugating tener and replacing xx with a number. For example, I am 18 years old = tengo 18 años.

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