All about the verb haber
Discover the common and very useful spanish verb haber! See proper demonstrations on how to pronounce and use it in a sentence.
On this page
Bonus audioUses of haberConjugation of haber in the indicativeHaber as a past participle in compound tensesConjugation of haber in the subjunctiveOther uses of haberQuick exercise: multiple choiceConclusionThe 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, with conjugation tables for various tenses. We’ve also given you 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 choice between the present perfect (he comprado) and the preterite (compré) varies by region and context. The present perfect is especially common for recent events in much of Spain; many American varieties prefer the preterite in those contexts. Other compound tenses are used across the Spanish-speaking world.
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) heI have
- (tú) hasyou have
- (él/ella) ha
(usted) hahe/she has
you (formal) have - haythere is/there are
- (nosotros/as) hemoswe have
- (vosotros/as) habéisyou (plural) have
- (ellos/ellas) han
(ustedes) hanthey have
you (plural) have
How to conjugate haber in the imperfect (imperfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
- (yo) habíaI had
- (tú) habíasyou had
- (él/ella) había
(usted) había
habíahe/she had
you (formal) had
there was/there were - (nosotros/as) habíamoswe had
- (vosotros/as) habíaisyou (plural) had
- (ellos/ellas) habían
(ustedes) habíanthey had
you (formal plural) had
How to conjugate haber in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)
Listen to the audio drill:
- (yo) hubeI had
- (tú) hubisteyou had
- (él/ella) hubo
(usted) hubo
hubohe/she had
you (formal) had
there was/there were - (nosotros/as) hubimoswe had
- (vosotros/as) hubisteisyou (plural) had
- (ellos/ellas) hubieron
(ustedes) hubieronthey had
you (formal plural) had
How to conjugate haber in the future (futuro)
Listen to the audio drill:
- (yo) habréI will have
- (tú) habrásyou will have
- (él/ella) habrá
(usted) habrá
habráhe/she will have
you (formal) will have
there will be - (nosotros/as) habremoswe will have
- (vosotros/as) habréisyou (plural) will have
- (ellos/ellas) habrán
(ustedes) habránthey will have
you (formal plural) will have
How to conjugate haber in the conditional (condicional)
Listen to the audio drill:
- (yo) habríaI would have
- (tú) habríasyou would have
- (él/ella) habría
(usted) habría
habríahe/she would have
you (formal) would have
there would be - (nosotros/as) habríamoswe would have
- (vosotros/as) habríaisyou (plural) would have
- (ellos/ellas) habrían
(ustedes) habríanthey would have
you (formal plural) would have
Haber as a past participle in compound tenses
When haber forms compound tenses, it is followed by the main verb’s participle, as in he podido (“I have been able to”). To say that something has existed, use the impersonal form ha habido; do not use he habido to mean “there has been.”
In the existential use shown in the tables below, habido follows another form of haber: ha habido (“there has/have been”). The conjugated verb stays singular even when referring to several things.
How to conjugate haber in the present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
Listen to the audio drill:
- (yo) ——
- (tú) ——
- ha habidothere 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 habidothere 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 habidothere 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 habidothere 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) hayathat I have
- que (tú) hayasthat you have
- que (él/ella) haya
que (usted) haya
que hayathat he/she has
that you (formal) have
that there may be
that there is/are
that there be - que (nosotros/as) hayamosthat we have
- que (vosotros/as) hayáisthat you (plural) have
- que (ellos/ellas) hayan
que (ustedes) hayanthat they have
that you (plural) have
How to conjugate haber in the imperfect subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo)
Listen to the audio drill:
- que (yo) hubiera/hubiesethat I had
- que (tú) hubieras/hubiesesthat you had
- que (él/ella) hubiera/hubiese
que (usted) hubiera/hubiese
que hubiera/hubiesethat 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/hubiésemosthat we had
- que (vosotros/as) hubierais/hubieseisthat you (plural) had
- que (ellos/ellas) hubieran/hubiesen
que (ustedes) hubieran/hubiesenthat they had
that you (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 habidothat 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 habidothat 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)
- haberto have
to be (with ‘there’)
Perfect infinitive (infinitivo compuesto)
For example: Debe haber habido un error (“There must have been a mistake”).
- haber habidoto have been (in existence)
Past participle (participio pasado)
- habidobeen (in existence)
Gerund (gerundio)
The simple gerund is habiendo. The compound gerund habiendo habido means “there having been”.
- habiendo habidothere 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/habehave (you informal singular)
- (usted) hayahave (you formal singular)
- (nosotros/as) hayamoslet’s have
- (vosotros/as) habedhave (you informal plural)
- (ustedes) hayanhave (you formal plural)
Imperative mood—negative (imperativo—negativo)
- (yo) ——
- (tú) no hayasdon’t have (you informal singular)
- (usted) no hayado not have (you formal singular)
- (nosotros/as) no hayamoslet’s not have
- (vosotros/as) no hayáisdon’t have (you informal plural)
- (ustedes) no hayando 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!
