The Spanish Verb Haber - Uses and Conjugations • Uses and Conjugations • ConvoSpanish

First of all, the Spanish verb haber is complex and peculiar, like the verb soler. In fact, if you look at the definition of haber by Real Academia Española dictionary, you will find several definitions for this verb.

In addition, haber is an irregular verb, which makes things more complicated. However, this complexity is also what makes the verb haber one of the most important verbs in Spanish.

With this post you will learn about how to use and how to conjugate the verb haber in Spanish.

In addition, there are plenty of examples with audios to help you better understand the concepts and to practice your listening skills.

CONTENTS

How to use the Spanish Verb Haber

You can use verb haber in Spanish for several situations, being the following ones the most common:

AUXILIARY VERB

Probably, most people know the verb for this reason. In this case, haber helps other verbs and itself to form formas verbales compuestas.

AUXILIARY VERB HABER + PAST PARTICIPLE

Examples

Ha habido un terremoto. → There has been an earthquake.

Habíamos cantado la canción. → We had song the sung.

IMPERSONAL FORM

Maybe, the most important use, but definitely, the one that makes students of Spanish as a second language make the most mistakes.

One important thing here is that the noun that goes with the verb is not the subject, but the direct object.

HAY= There is o there are.

Examples

Hay leche en el frigorífico. → There is milk in the fridge.

Hay tres manzanas en la mesa. → There are three apples on the table.

TALKING ABOUT EXISTENCE

You can use verb haber to express the existence of something or someone somewhere. In this case, we use he followed by words such as aquí or allí and the direct object.

Examples

He aquí los billetes de tren. → Here are the train tickets.

He allí tu nieto. → There is your grandson.

EXPRESSING OBLIGATION

You can use two different verbal periphrases to express obligation: hay que and haber de.

HAY QUE + INFINITIVE= Tener que≈ To have to

Examples

Hay que poner la mesa. → One has to set up the table/you have to set up the table.

No hay que hacer la cena. → No, it is not necessary to make dinner/no, you do not have to make dinner.

HABER DE + INFINITIVE= Tener que≈ To have to

Examples

He de hacer los deberes. → I have to do the homework.

Hemos de acabar la carrerera. → We have to finish the race.

How to conjugate the Spanish Verb Haber

INDICATIVE – SIMPLE TENSES

Abbreviations: Subject (SUBJ.), imperfect (IMPERF.), preterite (PRET.) and conditional (COND.).

SUBJ.	PRESENT	IMPERF.	PRET.	FUTURE	COND.
Yo	He	Había	Hube	Habré	Habría
Tú	Has	Habías	Hubiste	Habrás	Habrías
El/ella, Ud.	Ha	Había	Hubo	Habrá	Habría
Nosotros/as	Hemos	Habíamos	Hubimos	Habremos	Habríamos
Vosotros/as	Habéis	Habíais	Hubisteis	Habréis	Habríais
Ellos/as, Uds.	Han	Habían	Hubieron	Habrán	Habrían

INDICATIVE – COMPOUND TENSES

Abbreviations: Subject (SUBJ.), present perfect (PRES. PERF.), past perfect (PAST PERF.), future perfect (FUT. PERF.) and conditional perfect (COND. PERF.).

SUBJ.	PRES. PERF.	PAST PERF.	FUT. PERF.	COND. PERF.
Yo	He habido	Había habido	Habré habido	Habría habido
Tú	Has habido	Habías habido	Habrás habido	Habrías habido
El/ella, Ud.	Ha habido	Había habido	Habrá habido	Habría habido
Nosotros/as	Hemos habido	Habíamos habido	Habremos habido	Habríamos habido
Vosotros/as	Habéis habido	Habíais habido	Habréis habido	Habríais habido
Ellos/as, Uds.	Han habido	Habían habido	Habrán habido	Habrían habido

SUBJUNCTIVE – SIMPLE TENSES

Abbreviations: Subject (SUBJ.) and imperfect (IMPERF.).

SUBJ.	PRESENT	IMPERF.	FUTURE
Yo	Haya	Hubiera Hubiese	Hubiere
Tú	Hayas	Hubieras Hubieses	Hubieres
El/ella, Ud.	Haya	Hubiera Hubiese	Hubiere
Nosotros/as	Hayamos	Hubiéramos Hubiésemos	Hubiéremos
Vosotros/as	Hayáis	Hubierais Hubieseis	Hubiereis
Ellos/as, Uds.	Hayan	Hubieran Hubiesen	Hubieren

SUBJUNCTIVE – COMPOUND TENSES

Abbreviations: Subject (SUBJ.), present perfect (PRES. PERF.), past perfect (PAST PERF.) and future perfect (FUT. PERF.).

SUBJ.	PRES. PERF.	PAST PERF.	FUT. PERF.
Yo	Haya habido	Hubiera habido Hubiese habido	Hubiere habido
Tú	Hayas habido	Hubieras habido Hubieses habido	Hubieres habido
Él/ella, Ud.	Haya habido	Hubiera habido Hubiese habido	Hubiere habido
Nosotros/as	Hayamos habido	Hubiéramos habido Hubiésemos habido	Hubiéremos habido
Vosotros/as	Hayáis habido	Hubierais habido Hubieseis habido	Hubiereis habido
Ellos/as, Uds.	Hayan habido	Hubieran habido Hubiesen habido	Hubieren habido

IMPERATIVE

SUBJECT	AFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE
Yo	-	-
Tú	¡He!	¡No hayas!
Él/ella, Ud.	¡Haya!	¡No haya!
Nosotros/as	¡Hayamos!	¡No hayamos!
Vosotros/as	¡Habed!	¡No hayáis!
Ellos/as, Uds.	¡Hayan!	¡No hayan!

Infographic

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you are now able to understand the use and conjugate the Spanish verb haber.

I advise you to practice with the examples here and try to make some others on your own.

Additionally, I can help you practice with this verb by using it while having a conversation during our online Spanish conversation classes.

Additionally, we can practice in the comment section below by answering the following questions:

¿Has estudiado español hoy?
¿Hay algún restaurante cerca de tu casa?
¿Has de estudiar para algún examen?

17 Tips to Becoming Conversationally Fluent in Spanish

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