What Does ‘Hay’ Mean in Spanish? (And When to Use ‘Está’ Instead)
Have you ever got confused that hay and está both translate into “is”? What’s the difference? When do you use one and when the other? How to use them in a sentence? Is there any formula for hay in Spanish that could help?
If these are the questions you’ve been asking yourself, you’ll finally find out the answers.
After reading this article, you will never doubt again between hay in Spanish and está. What’s more, you’ll be able to see your progress yourself by doing a short quiz in the end.
Do you want to try?
Hay in Spanish – The Meaning and Usage
Before I start explaining what hay in Spanish means and how to use it, have a look at these examples:
Hay un gato en mi jardín.
There is a cat in my garden.
Hay tres gatos en mi jardín.
There are three cats in my garden.
I guess you already figured out the translation, didn’t you? Yes, hay Spanish means both “there is” and “there are”.
Hay is an impersonal form of haber (to be, to have). “Impersonal” means that it never changes no matter the gender or number of the noun that follows it. So you can forget for a while about gender and number agreement, and the conjugation endings and learn the easy part.
In the sentences above I used them with a singular noun (un gato), and plural noun (tres gatos). In none of the cases, I know the animals that are in my garden. I merely acknowledge their existence.
If I’m not sure about the exact number of these not very familiar animals, I could also say:
Hay gatos en mi jardín.
There are cats in my garden.
Or:
Hay unos gatos en mi jardín.
There are some cats in my garden.
Keep these sentences in mind as I will come back to them later.
Hay in Spanish in different tenses
When you want to use hay in Spanish in other tenses, for example, to say “there was” or “there will be”, you’ll also have to learn one impersonal form for each tense. No conjugation tables this time!
Let’s keep it simple and stay with the cats.
The preterite tense
The impersonal form for hay in the simple past tense in Spanish is hubo.
Hubo un gato en mi jardín.
There was a cat in my garden.
Hubo tres gatos en mi jardín.
There were three cats in my garden.
The imperfect tense
Hay in the imperfect tense in Spanish turns into había.
Había un gato en mi jardín.
There was a cat in my garden.
Había tres gatos en mi jardín.
There were three cats in my garden.
If you want to learn a difference between the two past Spanish tenses, check out “Preterite vs Imperfect: A Beginner’s Guide to the Past Tense in Spanish.”
The simple future tense
In the future simple tense, you will use habrá.
Habrá un gato en mi jardín.
There will be a cat in my garden.
Habrá tres gatos en mi jardín.
There will be three cats in my garden.
If you want to refresh your knowledge on the future tense in Spanish, read “The Future SImple Tense in Spanish: el Futuro simple.”
Hay vs Estar – What’s the difference
Some beginner learners tend to confuse hay with está. It’s normal if that happens, but you can easily understand the difference between these two verbs.
Hay
Let’s review it one more time. Hay in English translates into “There is” or “there are”. And we use it to talk about the existence of something or someone.
In the sentences with Hay, the verb goes first and the noun follows.
Hay + noun
Then, you can put indefinite articles or numbers before the noun. Mind that you cannot put any definite article before the noun.
Hay un gato. (There is a cat.)
Hay gatos. (There are cats.)
Hay tres gatos. (There are three cats.)
Hay unos gatos. (There are some cats.)
If you want to add the place, you can put it either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end. Follow these sentence structures:
- Hay + noun + place
- Place + hay + noun
Hence, you can say:
Hay un gato en mi jardín.
There is a cat in my garden.
Or
En mi jardín hay un gato.
In my garden, there is a cat.
Estar
Estar (to be) is a verb that you conjugate as other verbs and its ending changes with each grammatical person. Está means “(it) is” and están means “they) are”. We use it not to talk about the existence but the location of people or things.
The formula to use with estar is also different:
Definite article (el, la, los, las) + noun + está / están + place
For example:
El gato está en el jardín.
The cat is in the garden.
Los gatos están en el jardín.
The cats are in the garden.
When you locate things and object with the verb estar you know who you’re talking about, therefore you use the definite articles.
Let me show you both hay and estar in simple dialogue.
-¿Hay una farmacía por aquí?
-Sí hay algunas cerca. Por ejemplo, la farmacia “Dr. John” está en la esquina.
-Is there a pharmacy around here?
-Yes, there are some nearby. For example, the pharmacy “Dr. John” is on the corner.
The first person is asking about an existence of a pharmacy. The second person acknowledges the existence of some pharmacies nearby and specifically locates one of them.
Is it clearer now? Hopefully, yes.
Hay in Spanish – Common Phrases
You can often come across the hay in Spanish in some expressions you use almost daily.
- Hay que
This expression introduces obligation–One must. It can be for the speaker and whoever accompanies him or a general obligation:
Hay que apurarnos.
We have to hurry.
Hay que inscribirse antes del sábado.
You must register before Saturday.
Aquí, hay que caminar con cuidado.
Here, you have to walk carefully.
- No hay de que
No hay de que is another way of saying de nada (you’re welcome). Next time, when somebody thanks you for something you can use try using this one.
-Gracias por traerme aquí.
-No hay de que.
-Thanks for bringing me here.
-You’re welcome.
- ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
Do you want a catchy phrase to greet a friend? Instead of just saying Hola, ¿cómo estás? you can say ¿Qué hay de nuevo? meaning “what’s new?”, “what’s up?”.
-Hola Juan. ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
-Hola Pedro, Nada, todo bien. ¿Y tú, ¿qué tal?
-Hello Juan. What’s new?
-Hi Pedro. Nothing, all good. And what about you?
- Hay Sol / Lluvia / Nieve
You can also use hay to talk about meteorological conditions. If it’s sunny, say—hay sol. If it’s rainy, say—hay lluvia.
-¿Qué tiempo hace ahora en Cancún?
-Ahora hay sol pero por la tarde habrá lluvia.
-What’s the weather now in Cancun?
-Now, it’s sunny but it will rain in the afternoon.
Prove you’re a Master of Hay in Spanish- Quiz
Let’s see if now you know what hay means in Spanish and when to use está instead. Try yourself in this multiple-choice quiz and remember there’s only one correct translation for each English sentence.
1. There is enough water for everybody.
2. There are two Spanish students in my class.
3. The picture is over the desk.
4. The girls are in the kitchen.
5. One must eat lots of vegetables.
6. Is there a hotel in town?
7. How many oceans are there in the world?
8. In my city, there is only one supermarket.
9. There is no milk!
10. It’s sunny, let’s go out.
Practice Time
Congratulations! You’ve learned another grammar topic and an important one. Understanding how to use hay in Spanish gets you closer to your fluency whatever your goal is. No matter if you want to get a better job, travel around the world, or simply become bilingual, one step at a time gets you closer to your objective. Just to motivate you a bit, remember that according to a study conducted by The Economist, a person can earn from $50,000 to $125,000 more just because they know a foreign language.
Now, if you want to practice your newly acquired skills in a one-to-one conversation, sign up for a free class with one of our professional, native Spanish-speaking teachers. It’s a great opportunity to use hay and está in a conversation with somebody that can correct your mistakes and challenge you to advance even more.
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