hay, había y hubo

Hola estudiantes

The previous two blogs have focused on creating sentences in the present perfect.  This construction required the use of the verb "haber," which normally conjugates into the present tense as he, has, ha, hemos, han. 

This week, we will continue to look at the verb haber, and other common ways the verb is used.  The conjugations that I just listed are mainly used, as mentioned in the previous blogs, to combine with the past participle of a verb in order to form the present perfect.  If you don't understand what that means, don't worry about it.  (If you are worried about it, check out the previous two blogs, which go into further detail).  What this week's blog will look at, however, is three alternate conjugations of haber:  

hay, hubo, había

These three conjugations are generally very simple to use.  The verb "haber" basically means "to be," but not in the same sense as "estar" and "ser." (For information on these two verbs and their usage, check out http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest1.htm.)

Instead, it means to be as in to exist.  Examples of sentences which would use "haber" would be:

• There are stars in the sky.
• There was a huge cow in the middle of the road.
• There is still time to complete the job. 

Sometimes the verb "estar" can also be used to mean to exist, but the sometimes subtle difference in use can be mastered through experience and practice.

 Now, to take a look at how to use each word individually:

hay

The word "hay" translates to "there is" or "there are."  It is the impersonal present tense conjugation of "haber."  You cannot assign this word to a person - it is a special conjugation that is used to describe the existence of something or some one.  Here are examples:

Hay dos perros en el jardín.  There are two dogs in the garden.  

Hay tres plumas en la mesa.  There are three pens on the table. 

Hay un gato en mi cuarto.  There is a cat in my room.

Remember, "hay" is used when there is or are something in existence.  You do not use "hay" for sentences that utilize a personal pronoun (such as "I am sick." or "She is crazy.") .   

     había
 
Había is the imperfect conjugation of "haber."  It refers to past events that continuously happened or that may continue to be happening now.  In English, we often say "would" or "used to" to use the imperfect tense (When I was little, there would be decorations all over town during this time of year.)  It can also be used to describe an event that was occuring... such as "There were three people dancing" ("Había tres personas bailando."). 

Examples of the use of había:

Había dos platos en la mesa.  There were two plates on the table.

Había un par de zapatos afuera, pero no sé si alguien ya se los llevó.  There were a pair of shoes outside, but I'm not sure if somebody already took them away.

Había una razón por hacer eso.  There was a reason for doing that.

(Note that even when more than one thing is being referred to, you still say había and not habían.  This rule is often broken, even by native speakers.  Habían is supposed to only be used when combined with a past participle, as taught in the previous two blogs.)

    hubo

The word "hubo" is like "había," except it is about events of the past that occurred and then ended.  There is a definite beginning and and a definite end to these occurrences.

Hubo un terremoto en mi puebo.  There was an earthquake in my town.  

Hubo un accidente en la carratera.  There was an accident on the freeway.

Hubo una fiesta en mi casa ayer.  There was a party at my house yesterday.

 Notice that all of these events happened once and then ended.  They were not events of the past that continued to happen, or events that continue to happen today.  Therefore, we use "hubo."

 This was a brief lesson - there are several other websites, forums, and blogs that discuss the use of hay, había and hubo.   You should check these out for further practice if you are still unsure of their usage.  Remember, it is not correct to pluralize these words.  You can't say "Hubieron tres fiestas ayer."  Well, you are not supposed to anyway.  People often do, and it is okay if it is accepted colloquially.  However, keep in mind that it is not grammatically correct.  You should say "Hubo tres fiestas ayer."  

Adiós for now...