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Spanish Grammar in Context

A reference grammar with video examples from the Spanish in Texas collection

  • Credits
  • Index
  • About
  • Home
  • Adjectives
    • Introduction to Adjectives
    • Adjectives – Formation and Placement
    • Comparisons and Superlatives with Adjectives
    • Past Participles as Adjectives
    • Todo
    • Indefinite Adjectives
    • Adjectives Practice
  • Adverbs
    • Introduction to Adverbs
    • Adverbs – Formation and Placement
    • Comparative Adverbs
    • Adverbs Practice
  • Conjunctions
    • Introduction to Conjunctions
    • Coordinating Conjunctions
    • Subordinating Conjunctions
    • Conjunctions Practice
  • Determiners
    • Introduction to Determiners
    • Definite Articles
    • Indefinite Articles
    • Possessive Determiners
    • Demonstrative Determiners
    • Expressions of Quantity
    • Determiners Practice
  • Negation
    • Introduction to Negation
    • Basic Negation: No
    • Alternate Forms of Negation
    • One-word Negative Sentences
    • Negation Practice
  • Nouns
    • Introduction to Nouns
    • Nouns – Number
    • Nouns – Gender
    • Nouns Practice
  • Prepositions
    • Introduction to Prepositions
    • Common Prepositions
    • Por vs. Para
    • Prepositions Practice
  • Pronouns
    • Introduction to Pronouns
    • Subject Pronouns
    • Direct Object Pronouns
    • Indirect Object Pronouns
    • Reflexive Pronouns
    • Order of Object Pronouns
    • Relative Pronouns
    • Indefinite Pronouns
    • Demonstrative Pronouns
    • Possessive Pronouns
    • Pronouns Practice
  • Verbs
    • Introduction to Verbs
    • Tense/Mood
    • Introduction to Present Tense
      • -ar Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -er Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -ir Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
    • Ser “To Be”
    • Haber “To Have”
    • Reflexive Verbs
    • Preterit
    • Present Perfect
    • Imperfect
    • Narration: Preterit vs. Imperfect
    • Pluperfect
    • Future
    • Conditional
    • Past Conditional
    • Imperative Mood (commands)
    • Introduction to Subjunctive
      • Subjunctive – Present
      • Subjunctive – Past or Imperfect
      • Subjunctive – Present Perfect
      • Subjunctive – Pluperfect
      • Tense Sequences
    • Si Clauses (If Clauses)
    • Indirect Speech
      • Indirect Speech – Present
      • Indirect Speech – Past
    • Passive Voice
    • Language Contact
    • Verbs Practice
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    Practice quizzes: verbs

    Haber “To Have” or “There is/There are”

    The verb haber can be used in two separate ways:

    1. Auxiliary: It is used as an auxiliary in compound tenses ( present perfect, pluperfect, etc.), meaning to have done something. With this use, it is always followed by a past participle. Note, even though haber here translates as to have, it does not express ownership, that use of to have is translated as verb tener.
    2. Existential: It is used in its existential form to mean there is/are.

    Most grammar books will tell you that the existential haber has only one form in each tense: hay, había, hubo, habría, habrá; unlike English where the existential there + to be agrees with the noun that follows: there is a dog on the porch versus there are two dogs on the porch.  However in many dialects of Spanish and especially in spoken Spanish the forms of haber also agrees with the noun. So sometimes you will see the forms habían, hubieron, habrían, habrán used as the existential form when the noun that follows is plural. Compare the two variations of the same sentence below.

    Prescriptive grammar

    Había muchos pájaros allá miles de pájaros y de todas clases. There were many birds there, thousands of birds and of all kinds.

    Variant

    Habían muchos pájaros allá miles de pájaros y de todas clases.
    There were many birds there, thousands of birds and of all kinds.

    Irregular forms of haber

    Haber in both its regular and existential forms is an irregular in the following tenses: present tense, preterit, and present subjunctive.

    Present

    haber to have
    yo he nosotros/as hemos
    tú has
    él/ella/usted ha ellos/as/ustedes han
    existential form: hay

    Auxiliary haber to form the present perfect:

    Siempre he tratado de oír música en otros idiomas.
    I have always tried to listen to music in different languages.

    Existential haber:

    En Texas hay muchos mexicanos, pero también hay muchos centroamericanos como por ejemplo de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua.
    In Texas, there are a lot of Mexicans but there are a lot of Central Americans as well like for example Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua.

    Preterit

    The preterit of haber can be used along with the past participle to form a tense called preterit perfect or past anterior, which is extremely rare; it appears almost exclusively in literature but not spoken Spanish. However, the existential form hubo does exist in both spoken and written Spanish.

    haber to have
    yo hube nostros/as hubimos
    tú hubiste  
    él/ella/usted hubo ellos/as/ustedes hubieron
    existential form: hubo

    Auxiliary haber to form the preterit perfect:

    Cuando hube agotado todos los argumentos, él me miró, irónico… When I had exhausted all my arguments, he looked at me ironically…

    Existential haber:

    Hubo una tormenta bien fuerte.
    There was a very big storm.

    Present Subjunctive

    haber to have
    yo haya nostros/as hayamos
    tú hayas
    él/ella/usted haya ellos/as/ustedes hayan
    existential form: haya

    Auxiliary haber to form the present perfect subjunctive:

    ¿Y alguna vez has escuchado una palabra o frase en español que te haya sorprendido, que hayas dicho– nunca he escuchado esto en mi vida?
    At some point have you heard a word or phrase in Spanish that has surprised you or that you’ve said “I’ve never heard this before in my life”?

    Existential haber:

    No me parecería raro que más adelante, en algún momento, haya un diccionario de inglés a espanglish o al revés.
    It wouldn’t seem weird to me if at some point in the future there is an English to Spanglish dictionary or vice versa.

    In some communities, the present subjunctive of the verb haber is conjugated differently, as seen in the table below. This conjugation is considered an archaic form that has been preserved in some communities, often rural ones across South, Central and North America. 

    haber to have
    yo haiga nostros/as haigamos
    tú haigas
    él/ella/usted haiga ellos/as/ustedes haigan
    existential form: haiga

    Auxiliary haber:

    El hecho que yo haiga asistido a la universidad y tenga los diplomas que tengo ahorita es una barrera muy grande que se ha roto.
    The fact that I have attended university and that I have the diplomas that I have now is a very big barrier that has been broken.

    Existential haber:

    A la gente se le hace raro pensar vivir en algún lugar que no haiga calles; todo es tierra, todo es rocas.
    It seems weird to people to think of living in a place where there are no streets; everything is dirt and rocks.

    COERLL • The University of Texas at Austin • info@coerll.utexas.edu Creative Commons License

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