Hay

Essential Spanish Expression

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There are few expressions more useful than hay, the Spanish equivalent of both "there is" and "there are."

Por ejemplo…

Hay un manzano en el jardín.		There’s an apple tree in the garden.
¿Hay un problema?		Is there a problem?

 Hay is the present tense impersonal form of the verb haber. It’s always hay (invariable) regardless of whether the noun that follows is singular or plural.

Por ejemplo…

Hay muchas mariposas.		There are a lot of butterflies.
No hay problemas.		There aren’t any problems.

There was, there will be …

In other tenses and moods, the impersonal verb haber has both singular and plural impersonal conjugations, but most Spanish speakers consider use of the plurals as incorrect. I’ve provided both forms here for reference, with the plural conjugations asterisked as a reminder to use them with care – if at all.

Por ejemplo…

pretérito	hubo uno hubo dos		there was one there were two
*	hubieron dos		there were two
imperfect	había uno había dos		there was one there were two
*	habían dos		there were two
present perfect	ha habido uno ha habido dos		there has been one there have been two
*	han habido dos		there have been two
conditional	habría uno habría dos		there would be one there would be two
*	habrían dos		there would be two
future	habrá uno habrá dos		there will be one there will be two
*	habrán dos		there will be two
subjunctive	que haya uno que haya dos		that there is one that there are two
*	que hayan dos		that there are two

Hay que

When followed by an infinitive, hay que means "it is necessary to" or "one has to."

Por ejemplo…

Hay que estudiar cada día.		It’s necessary to study every day.
Hay que trabajar para triunfar en la vida.		One has to work in order to succeed in life.

 Related lessons

• Hay vs está
• Haber
• Essential Spanish
   

 En français

• Il y a
   

 In italiano

• C’è  |  Ci sono
   

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