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SpanishConjugationPresent

Haber (to have) · Present

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated

Haber in the Spanish present (presente) is: yo he, tú has, él/ella/usted ha, nosotros/as hemos, vosotros/as habéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes han. The present of haber has two surfaces: the auxiliary forms (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) used with past participles to make compound tenses, and the impersonal 'hay' (literally a contracted form of 'ha + y') meaning 'there is' or 'there are'. 'Hay' is invariable — it does not change with plurality.

haber conjugation in the Present (Presente)
To HaveHaber
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
Examples

Haber (to have) in context

Sentences that use haber in the present. Tap each to hear it.

He terminado el proyecto.

I have finished the project.

¿Has comido ya?

Have you eaten yet?

Mi madre ha llegado a casa.

My mother has arrived home.

Hemos estudiado toda la noche.

We have studied all night.

¿Habéis visto la película?

Have you seen the movie?

Los niños han crecido mucho.

The children have grown a lot.

Tip

Working with the present

Spanish uses the present tense more broadly than English does. "Estudio español" can mean "I study Spanish," "I am studying Spanish," or "I do study Spanish" — context decides. The biggest stumbling block for English speakers is the yo form of irregular verbs (hago, tengo, doy, voy, soy). Memorise those individually; the other persons usually follow regular patterns.

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).
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More tenses of Haber (To Have)

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Haber (to have) · Preterite

More verbs in present

All tenses
Haber (to have)
present
Ser (to be)
present
Estar (to be)
present
Tener (to have)
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