tuve

Tuve is the first-person singular preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb tener, meaning "I had." It is used to describe past events, possessions, or states that were completed, and it often appears in the construction tener que to express a past obligation (tuve que ir, I had to go).

In ordinary past narration, tuve denotes a completed past possession or experience. For example, "Ayer tuve un libro nuevo" means "Yesterday I had a new book." When describing obligations in the past, "tuve que" indicates that the obligation occurred and was fulfilled or not, as in "Tuve que estudiar" (I had to study). This use contrasts with the imperfect tener with had in the past to describe ongoing possession or background conditions (tenía).

Conjugation and form: Tuve is irregular in the preterite tense. The stem is "tuv-" across all persons: yo tuve, tú tuviste, él tuvo, nosotros tuvimos, vosotros tuvisteis, ellos tuvieron. The endings follow the standard preterite pattern (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron). The verb tener is commonly treated as an irregular in this tense, with other derived forms sharing the same stem.

Etymology and related forms: Tener comes from Latin tenēre, meaning to hold or possess. The preterite stem "tuv-" reflects historical changes in the verb’s stem as Spanish evolved from Latin and early Romance varieties. Related forms in other tenses include tengo, tenías, tenía, and the future haré, among others.

See also: Tener; Spanish grammar; Preterite tense.