Conjugation of impersonal haber
Reminder: the verb haber has an impersonal form that only exists in the 3rd person: hay (there is/are).
En el jardín hay un árbol.
In the garden there is a tree.
Hay que pagar los impuestos.
Taxes have to be paid.
We can use the impersonal haber in different tenses. The main ones are:
| Tense | Conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | Hay | Hay dos cervezas en la nevera. |
| Present perfect | Ha habido | Esta mañana ha habido un accidente. |
| Simple past | Hubo | El mes pasado hubo un incendio en el hotel. |
| Imperfect | Había | Cuando era pequeño no había teléfonos móviles. |
| Future | Habrá | En el año 2050 habrá coches voladores. |
We use the singular form whether referring to one person/thing or more than one. Note that this is different from English, which has both “there is” and “there are”.
Había un huésped en la recepción.
There was a guest at reception.
Había dos huéspedes en la recepción.
There were two guests at reception.
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