Language/Spanish/Grammar/Use-of-verb-Haber

Conjugation of HABER in Spanish

This article is for people with an intermediate level of Spanish

The verb haber can be used in two separate ways:

• 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. When used in this way, haber is the equivalent of the English auxiliary verb "to have" (which is much different than the English "to have" when it means "to possess"). Haber is used in a variety of tenses to form what are known as the perfect tenses because they refer to actions that have been or will be completed.

• Existential: It is used in its existential form to mean there is/are.

One peculiarity of haber is that it has a unique conjugated form, hay means "there is" or "there are."

HABER AS AN AUXILIARY VERB IN COMPOUND TENSES When used in this way, haber is the equivalent of the English auxiliary verb "to have" (which is much different than the English "to have" when it means "to possess"). Haber is used in a variety of tenses to form what are known as the perfect tenses because they refer to actions that have been or will be completed.

As in English, the perfect tenses are formed by following a form of haber (it is conjugated irregularly) with a past participle.

Examples: He comprado un coche. (I have bought a car.) ¿Has estudiado? (Have you studied?) Han salido. (They have left.) Habrá salido. (She will have left.) Habría hablado. (I would have spoken.) In English, it is very common to insert an adverb or other word between the two parts of a compound verb, such as in the sentence "he has always gone." But in Spanish (except perhaps in poetry), the two verb parts aren't separated.

As a beginner, you don't need to learn all the tenses using haber now, but you should be able to recognize haber when it is used. You should also be aware that while the perfect tenses in Spanish and English are quite similar in form and usage, they aren't always used in exactly the same way.

HABER FOR 'THERE IS" OR 'THERE ARE' One peculiarity of haber is that it has a unique conjugated form, hay (pronounced basically the same as the English "eye") that means "there is" or "there are."

Examples: Hay una silla en la cocina. (There is one chair in the kitchen.) Hay dos sillas en la cocina. (There are two chairs in the kitchen.) Note that in the above examples, the English "there" isn't referring to location, but to mere existence. The most common word for "there" in terms of location is allí.

Example: Hay una silla allí. There is a chair there.

Haber can be used in this way in tenses other than the present, although not as commonly.

Modo Indicativo

Pronoun	Presente	Pretérito Imperfecto	Pretérito perfecto simple	Futuro	Condicional
Yo (I)	He	Había	Hube	Habré	Habría
Tu (You)	Has	Habías	Hubiste	Habrás	Habrías
Él/Ella (He/She)	Ha	Había	Hubo	Habrá	Habría
Nosotros (We)	Hemos	Habíamos	Hubimos	Habremos	Habremos
Vosotros/Ustedes (You)	Habéis / Han	Habíais / Habían	Hubisteis / Hubieron	Habréis / Habrán	Habríais/ Habrían
Ellos/Ellas (They)	Han	Habían	Hubieron	Habrán	Habrían

For something that happened it is conjugated as follows "Ha Habido"

Examples

Presente

• Yo he comprado pan

• Tu has escrito un poema

• El ha viajado a Barcelona

• Nosotros hemos vuelto a clases

• Ustedes han llegado

• Ellos han asaltado el banco

Pretérito Imperfecto

To make it easier I will use the same sentences

• Yo había comprado pan

• Tu habías escrito un poema

• El había viajado a Barcelona

• Nosotros habíamos vuelto a clases

• Ustedes habían llegado

• Ellos habian asaltado el banco

Pretérito perfecto simple

• Yo hube comprado pan

• Tu hubiste escrito un poema

• El hubo viajado a Barcelona

• Nosotros hubimos vuelto a clases

• Ustedes hubieron llegado

• Ellos hubieron asaltado el banco

Futuro

• Yo habré comprado pan

• Tu habrás escrito un poema

• El habrá viajado a Barcelona

• Nosotros habremos vuelto a clases

• Ustedes habrán llegado

• Ellos habrán asaltado el banco

Condicional

• Yo habría comprado pan

• Tu habrías escrito un poema

• El habría viajado a Barcelona

• Nosotros habríamos vuelto a clases

• Ustedes habrían llegado

• Ellos habrian asaltado el banco