The verb haber (‘to have’/’to be’) is an unusual but really useful Spanish verb that can be used in everyday speech and certain set phrases! Haber is an important addition to your Spanish repertoire.
In this article, we show you the meanings of haber and how to use it, providing you with conjugation tables for various tenses (available in a handy pinnable image). We’ve also given you some audio material to help train your ear, and a quiz at the end to see how you’re doing!Bonus audio
This article comes with free MP3 files to demonstrate the correct pronunciation of the verb forms and to give you the chance to practice your listening skills. The audio files work as drills—the more you listen, the better acquainted you get with the verb haber.
The audio is included in the comprehensive Spanish Learning Package, which you can access for FREE when you sign up to our mailing list!
Uses of haber
There are two main meanings of the verb haber. The first meaning is ‘to have.’ However, be careful! It doesn’t mean ‘to have’ in the sense of possession—that would be tener. Rather, it’s used as an auxiliary verb (like ‘I have seen’) in compound tenses:
- Haber = to have
Example: He comprado algo interesante. (I have bought something interesting.)
The use of auxiliary verbs in this way is more common in Spain than in Latin America. Similarly, the English version is more common in British English than US American English. So, if you’re in America, be careful of overusing it!
Example (Europe): ¿Has cenado ya? (Have you had dinner yet?)
Example (America): ¿Cenaste ya? (Did you have dinner yet?)
The second use of haber is as an impersonal verb to describe the existence of something. With this meaning, it’s only used in the third person singular (whether it’s talking about a singular thing or many things!). When translated, you’ll usually need the word ‘there’ followed by the appropriate form of ‘to be’:
- Haber = to be
Example: Hay un error en el texto. (There is an error in the text.)
Example: Hay unos errores en el texto. (There are some errors in the text.)
As well as these two main uses, haber is used in some set phrases, where it doesn’t fall neatly into either of the categories above.
Example: Haber que + infinitive. (To be necessary to …)
Example: Haber de + infinitive. (To have to/must …)
Example: Ha de + infinitive. (It must be/probably is the case that …)
Example: He aquí … (Here is/are …)
Example: Habérselas con … (To be up against …/To have it out with …)
Conjugation of haber in the indicative
We’ve seen what haber is used for, so now you need to know how to use it properly in a sentence—time to learn how to conjugate it!
Remember that in Spanish, you can often drop the pronoun, e.g., ‘yo he’ can often be shortened to ‘he’—the verb ending does the same job as the pronoun—it tells us who’s doing the action! This is why you’ll find the pronouns in parentheses in the conjugation tables.
How to conjugate haber in the present tense (presente)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) he | I have |
| (tú) has | you have |
| (él/ella) ha (usted) ha | he/she has you (formal) have |
| hay | there is/there are |
| (nosotros/as) hemos | we have |
| (vosotros/as) habéis | you (plural) have |
| (ellos/ellas) han (ustedes) han | they have you (formal plural) have |
How to conjugate haber in the imperfect (imperfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) había | I had |
| (tú) habías | you had |
| (él/ella) había (usted) había había | he/she had you (formal) had there was/there were |
| hay | there is/there are |
| (nosotros/as) habíamos | we had |
| (vosotros/as) habíais | you (plural) had |
| (ellos/ellas) habían (ustedes) habían | they had you (formal plural) had |
How to conjugate haber in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) hube | I had |
| (tú) hubiste | you had |
| (él/ella) hubo (usted) hubo hubo | he/she had you (formal) had there was/there were |
| (nosotros/as) hubimos | we had |
| (vosotros/as) hubisteis | you (plural) had |
| (ellos/ellas) hubieron (ustedes) hubieron | they had you (formal plural) had |
How to conjugate haber in the future (futuro)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) habré | I will have |
| (tú) habrás | you will have |
| (él/ella) habrá (usted) habrá habrá | he/she will have you (formal) will have there will be |
| (nosotros/as) habremos | we will have |
| (vosotros/as) habréis | you (plural) will have |
| (ellos/ellas) habrán (ustedes) habrán | they will have you (formal plural) will have |
How to conjugate haber in the conditional (condicional)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) habría | I would have |
| (tú) habrías | you would have |
| (él/ella) habría (usted) habría habría | he/she would have you (formal) would have there would be |
| (nosotros/as) habríamos | we would have |
| (vosotros/as) habríais | you (plural) would have |
| (ellos/ellas) habrían (ustedes) habrían | they would have you (formal plural) would have |
Haber as a past participle in compound tenses
As we’ve seen above, haber is used in compound tenses, but it’s used as the auxiliary verb, not the past participle. So, it wouldn’t make sense to say, for example ‘he habido’ or ‘habríamos habido.’ Compare this to, for example, ‘he podido’ (‘I have been able to’).
The one occasion where we do need the past participle of haber in compound tenses is when we’re using it in the existence sense (number 2 in the list of uses above). So, we only need it in the third person singular.How to conjugate haber in the present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) --- | --- |
| ha habido | there has been/there have been |
| (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (ellos/ellas) --- (ustedes) --- | --- |
How to conjugate haber in the pluperfect (pluscuamperfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) --- | --- |
| había habido | there had been |
| (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (ellos/ellas) --- (ustedes) --- | --- |
How to conjugate haber in the future perfect (futuro perfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) --- | --- |
| habrá habido | there will have been |
| (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (ellos/ellas) --- (ustedes) --- | --- |
How to conjugate haber in the conditional perfect (condicional compuesto)
Listen to the audio drill:
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) --- | --- |
| habría habido | there would have been |
| (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| (ellos/ellas) --- (ustedes) --- | --- |
Conjugation of haber in the subjunctive
Now that you’ve seen haber in its indicative forms, it’s time to check out how it works in the subjunctive mood. Take the following translations with a pinch of salt, as the subjunctive can be really difficult to get across. Read more about it here!
How to conjugate haber in the present subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo)
Listen to the audio drill:
| que (yo) haya | that I have |
| que (tú) hayas | that you have |
| que (él/ella) haya que (usted) haya que haya | that he/she has that you (formal) have that there may be that there is/are that there be |
| que (nosotros/as) hayamos | that we have |
| que (vosotros/as) hayáis | that you (plural) have |
| que (ellos/ellas) hayan que (ustedes) hayan | that they have that you (formal plural) have |
How to conjugate haber in the imperfect subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo)
Listen to the audio drill:
| que (yo) hubiera/hubiese | that I had |
| que (tú) hubieras/hubieses | that you had |
| que (él/ella) hubiera/hubiese que (usted) hubiera/hubiese que hubiera/hubiese | that he/she had that you (formal) had that there may have been that there was/were that there be that there would/should be |
| que (nosotros/as) hubiéramos/hubiésemos | that we had |
| que (vosotros/as) hubierais/hubieseis | that you (plural) had |
| que (ellos/ellas) hubieran/hubiesen que (ustedes) hubieran/hubiesen | that they had that you (formal plural) had |
How to conjugate haber in the perfect subjunctive (pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo)
Listen to the audio drill:
| que (yo) --- | --- |
| que (tú) --- | --- |
| que haya habido | that there has/have been |
| que (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| que (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| que (ellos/ellas) --- que (ustedes) --- | --- |
How to conjugate haber in the pluperfect subjunctive (pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)
Listen to the audio drill:
| que (yo) --- | --- |
| que (tú) --- | --- |
| que hubiera/hubiese habido | that there had been |
| que (nosotros/as) --- | --- |
| que (vosotros/as) --- | --- |
| que (ellos/ellas) --- que (ustedes) --- | --- |
Other uses of haber
Listen to the audio drill:
Infinitive (infinitivo)
| haber | to have to be (with ‘there’) |
Perfect infinitive (infinitivo compuesto)
Rare except with ‘deber.’
| haber habido | to have been (in existence) |
Past participle (participio pasado)
| habido | been (in existence) |
Gerund (gerundio)
Use this with a perfect participle.
| habiendo habido | there having been |
Imperative mood (imperativo)
In practice, you won’t need to use haber in the imperative form, and there’s disagreement among linguists as to whether it needs to be listed and how it should be conjugated. Here are the forms that you might see in some super old literary texts!
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) he/hé/habe | have (you informal singular) |
| (usted) haya | have (you formal singular) |
| (nosotros/as) hayamos | let’s have |
| (vosotros/as) habed | have (you informal plural) |
| (ustedes) hayan | have (you formal plural) |
Imperative mood—negative (imperativo—negativo)
| (yo) --- | --- |
| (tú) no hayas | don’t have (you informal singular) |
| (usted) no haya | do not have (you formal singular) |
| (nosotros/as) no hayamos | let’s not have |
| (vosotros/as) no hayáis | don’t have (you informal plural) |
| (ustedes) no hayan | do not have (you formal plural) |
Quick exercise: multiple choice
Pick the best translation from the options provided.
Conclusion
Great work making it through this article—we know that haber can be a tricky verb to get your head around, but it’s so common and useful that it’s well worth the time.
Practice little and often with our Verb Conjugation Course. Combine it with our audio drills, and haber should start to come naturally to you over time!
