SpanishConjugationAll tenses
Haber (to have) · All tenses
By TutorLily Editorial Team
Haber is the auxiliary verb behind every Spanish compound tense — 'he comido' (I have eaten), 'había visto' (I had seen). It also has an impersonal form 'hay' meaning 'there is / there are'. Haber is never the verb 'to have' for possession (that's tener). It is one of the most irregular verbs in Spanish: he/has/ha (present), hube/hubiste (pret grave), habré/habrás (contracted future), haya (irregular subjunctive).
Conjugation
haber · Present (Presente)
I have... (aux); there is / there are (hay)
| To Have | Haber |
|---|---|
| I have | yo he |
| you have | tú has |
| he/she has | él/ella/usted ha |
| we have | nosotros/as hemos |
| you have | vosotros/as habéis |
| they have | ellos/ellas/ustedes han |
Conjugation
haber · Preterite (Pretérito indefinido)
I had... (aux, rare); there was/were (hubo)
| To Have | Haber |
|---|---|
| I had | yo hube |
| you had | tú hubiste |
| he/she had | él/ella/usted hubo |
| we had | nosotros/as hubimos |
| you had | vosotros/as hubisteis |
| they had | ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieron |
Conjugation
haber · Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto)
I had... (aux); there was/were (había)
| To Have | Haber |
|---|---|
| I used to have | yo había |
| you used to have | tú habías |
| he/she used to have | él/ella/usted había |
| we used to have | nosotros/as habíamos |
| you used to have | vosotros/as habíais |
| they used to have | ellos/ellas/ustedes habían |
Conjugation
haber · Present Subjunctive (Presente de subjuntivo)
(that) I have... (aux); (that) there be (haya)
| To Have | Haber |
|---|---|
| I have | yo haya |
| you have | tú hayas |
| he/she have | él/ella/usted haya |
| we have | nosotros/as hayamos |
| you have | vosotros/as hayáis |
| they have | ellos/ellas/ustedes hayan |
Conjugation
haber · Future (Futuro simple)
I will have... (aux); there will be (habrá)
| To Have | Haber |
|---|---|
| I will have | yo habré |
| you will have | tú habrás |
| he/she will have | él/ella/usted habrá |
| we will have | nosotros/as habremos |
| you will have | vosotros/as habréis |
| they will have | ellos/ellas/ustedes habrán |
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do you conjugate haber in the present tense?
Haber in the present is: yo he, tú has, él/ella/usted ha, nosotros/as hemos, vosotros/as habéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes han. The impersonal form 'hay' (= there is / there are) exists in addition to 'ha' and is used to talk about existence: 'hay un libro' (there is a book), 'hay libros' (there are books). 'Hay' is invariable — never 'hayn' or 'hays'.
What's the difference between haber and tener?
Haber = the auxiliary verb behind compound tenses ('he comido' = I have eaten) and the impersonal 'hay' (there is / are). Haber is NEVER used for possession. Tener = 'to have' in the possessive sense ('tengo un coche' = I have a car). English uses 'have' for both meanings, but Spanish strictly separates them. A learner saying 'he un coche' instead of 'tengo un coche' is one of the most common Spanish mistakes.
How does 'hay' work with singular and plural?
'Hay' is invariable — it doesn't change for singular or plural: 'hay un libro' (there is a book), 'hay tres libros' (there are three books), 'hay muchas personas' (there are many people). This is unusual in Spanish, which normally insists on subject-verb agreement. 'Hay' historically descends from 'ha + y' (= 'ha there'), and it congealed into a single invariable form by the 14th century. The same impersonal pattern works in other tenses: 'había' (there was/were), 'habrá' (there will be), 'hubo' (there was — preterite).
How do you conjugate haber in the preterite?
The preterite of haber is: yo hube, tú hubiste, él/ella/usted hubo, nosotros/as hubimos, vosotros/as hubisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieron. The stem switches to 'hub-' across all persons — part of the pretérito grave family alongside saber (supe), poder (pude), and tener (tuve).
When do I use 'hubo' vs 'había'?
'Hubo' (preterite) = there was / there were (completed past event): 'Hubo un accidente ayer' (There was an accident yesterday — a discrete event). 'Había' (imperfect) = there was / there were (background description): 'Había mucha gente en el parque' (There were lots of people in the park — describing the scene). The contrast mirrors the standard preterite-vs-imperfect distinction.
What is the 'pretérito anterior' tense?
The 'pretérito anterior' is a compound past tense formed with haber's preterite + a past participle: 'hube terminado' (I had finished), 'hubo llegado' (he had arrived). It's used in formal literature to mark an action that happened immediately before another past action, especially after 'cuando', 'apenas', 'tan pronto como'. In spoken Spanish, the simple preterite or pluperfect ('había terminado') has almost entirely replaced it.
How do you conjugate haber in the imperfect?
Haber is regular in the imperfect: yo había, tú habías, él/ella/usted había, nosotros/as habíamos, vosotros/as habíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes habían. The impersonal form 'había' (= there was / there were) is identical in spelling to the él/ella/usted form. The accent on 'í' is required in every form.
What is the pluperfect, and how does haber fit in?
The pluperfect (pluscuamperfecto) describes an action completed BEFORE another past action: 'Cuando llegué, ya había comido' (When I arrived, I had already eaten). It's formed with haber's imperfect + past participle: había comido, habías comido, etc. The pluperfect is one of the most-used compound tenses in narrative Spanish — anchoring earlier past events.
Why is 'había' invariable when used impersonally?
When 'había' means 'there was / there were', it follows the same invariability rule as 'hay' — it doesn't agree with the number of things existing: 'había una persona' (there was one person), 'había muchas personas' (there were many people). Spanish learners and some native speakers occasionally say 'habían muchas personas', but the RAE considers this non-standard. The impersonal form stays singular in standard Spanish.
How do you conjugate haber in the present subjunctive?
The present subjunctive of haber is: yo haya, tú hayas, él/ella/usted haya, nosotros/as hayamos, vosotros/as hayáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes hayan. The stem 'hay-' is irregular and doesn't derive from the indicative yo form (he). Memorise it as a unit.
Why is the subjunctive 'haya' and not 'hea' or 'hava'?
Most Spanish irregular subjunctive stems come from the yo form of the present indicative (hago → haga, tengo → tenga). Haber breaks this rule — yo 'he' would predict 'hea', which doesn't exist. Spanish preserved the older Latin-derived stem 'hay-'. The same kind of preservation explains saber (sepa), dar (dé), ir (vaya), ser (sea), and estar (esté) — six high-frequency verbs whose subjunctive stems are inherited rather than derived.
How does the present perfect subjunctive work?
The present perfect subjunctive ('haya + participle') describes a completed action that's still relevant to the present, after a subjunctive trigger: 'Espero que hayas comido' (I hope you have eaten), 'Dudo que hayan llegado' (I doubt they've arrived). It's used after triggers of doubt, emotion, or hope when the action is completed but its consequences continue. The structure is: present subjunctive of haber + past participle.
How do you conjugate haber in the future?
The future of haber uses the irregular stem 'habr-': yo habré, tú habrás, él/ella/usted habrá, nosotros/as habremos, vosotros/as habréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes habrán. The infinitive 'haber' contracts to 'habr-' before the future endings — same pattern as saber → sabr-, poder → podr-, caber → cabr-.
What's the impersonal 'habrá' used for?
'Habrá' is the impersonal future of haber, meaning 'there will be': 'Habrá una fiesta el sábado' (There will be a party on Saturday), 'Habrá problemas si no actuamos' (There will be problems if we don't act). Like 'hay' and 'había', 'habrá' is invariable — it doesn't change for singular or plural: 'habrá una persona' / 'habrá muchas personas'.
How does the future perfect work?
The future perfect ('habré + participle') describes an action that will be completed by some future point: 'Para mañana, habré terminado el proyecto' (By tomorrow, I will have finished the project). It's formed with haber's future + a past participle. The future perfect is also commonly used for conjecture about the recent past: '¿Dónde estará Juan?' could be answered '¿Habrá ido a casa?' (Could he have gone home?).
Practice Haber (To Have) in real conversations
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