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Spanish grammar lessons › Level A0 › Verbs, Tenses & Conjugation

Hay: there is, there are

One word for there is and there are: hay un banco, hay dos bancos, no hay leche.

Part of the free A0 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.

One word, two meanings

Hay means both there is and there are. It never changes, whether you talk about one thing or many. It comes from the verb haber, but for now you only need this one form.

Pronunciation: the h is silent, so hay sounds like English eye.

  • Hay un banco en la plaza.There's a bank in the square.
  • Hay dos farmacias en esta calle.There are two chemists in this street.
  • En la clase hay veinte estudiantes.There are twenty students in the class.

Questions and negatives

Add ¿ ? for a question and put no in front for a negative (No before the verb):

  • ¿Hay un supermercado cerca?Is there a supermarket nearby?
  • ¿Qué hay en la caja?What's in the box?
  • No hay leche.There's no milk.
  • ¿Hay wifi aquí?Is there wifi here?

What comes after hay

Hay introduces something new, so it goes with:

  • un, una, unos, unas: hay un bar;
  • a number: hay tres sillas;
  • no article, especially for things you can't count (milk, water) and in negatives: hay agua, no hay pan.

It does not go with el, la, los, las. When you already know the thing and ask where it is, use estar (Estar: how you are and where things are):

  • Hay agua en la nevera.There's water in the fridge.
  • El museo está en el centro.The museum is in the centre.
new informationa specific, known thing
Hay un banco en la plaza.El banco está en la plaza.
¿Hay una farmacia cerca?¿Dónde está la farmacia?

Don't confuse hay (there is), ahí (there, that place) and ¡ay! (ouch, oh). Hay and ¡ay! sound the same; ahí has two syllables, a-HÍ, stressed on the í.

Later you'll meet hay que + infinitive (one has to…) in Obligation: tener que, hay que.

Common mistakes

  • Hay el banco en la plaza → El banco está en la plaza (or Hay un banco en la plaza).
  • Hayn dos libros → Hay dos libros. Hay never changes for the plural.
  • Están dos libros en la mesa for "there are" → Hay dos libros en la mesa.
  • Es un parque cerca for "there's a park nearby" → Hay un parque cerca.
  • No hay un pan → No hay pan. Bread, milk and water take no article here.

Latin America: hay is the same everywhere. In some countries a fridge is el refrigerador (or la heladera in Argentina and Uruguay) instead of la nevera.

Practice

  1. _____ un parque cerca de la casa.
    There's a park near the house.
    Options: Hay · Está · Es · Tiene
    Show the answer

    Hay

  2. _____ tres sillas en la cocina.
    There are three chairs in the kitchen.
    Options: Hay · Hayn · Están · Son
    Show the answer

    Hay — Hay stays the same in the plural.

  3. La catedral _____ en el centro.
    The cathedral is in the centre.
    Options: está · hay · es · tiene
    Show the answer

    está — A specific, known place (la catedral) uses estar for its location.

  4. Which sentence means There's no bread?
    Options: No hay pan. · No hay el pan. · No está pan. · Hay no pan.
    Show the answer

    No hay pan.

In the app, this lesson is taught one idea at a time with the examples read aloud, followed by questions that explain the rule when you get one wrong. It then comes back for review on later days, until you've answered it correctly on three separate days.
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