Palabra Lexi · Spanish verb conjugation

Haber conjugation: main tenses of "to have (auxiliary verb)" in Spanish

Haber means "to have (auxiliary verb)". Irregular auxiliary verb. Present tense: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han. Preterite: hube, hubiste, hubo… The past participle is habido and the gerund is habiendo.

Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Highlighted forms differ from the regular pattern. Tap any form to hear it.

Haber in the indicative

Haber in the subjunctive

What is irregular about haber

Haber is the auxiliary of every compound tense: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han + participle (he comido). The preterite stem is hub- (hube, hubo), the future and conditional drop the e (habré, habría) and the present subjunctive is haya. In the sense "there is, there are" it has one form per tense, with a special present hay: hay, había, hubo, habrá.

Common mistakes with haber

• Habían muchas personas. → Había muchas personas.

  In the sense "there was, there were" haber is impersonal and stays singular, however many things follow: había, hubo, habrá.

• He lo visto. → Lo he visto.

  Object pronouns go before haber: Lo he visto. In everyday speech, adverbs usually go before or after haber + participle. Some can occur between them, especially in writing (había ya visto); this is not always an error.

• Hay el banco en esta calle. → El banco está en esta calle.

  Hay introduces something not yet identified: un banco, dos bancos, mucha gente. A specific thing with el, la or mi takes estar.

When to use haber

In compound tenses the participle never changes for gender or number: Ella ha salido, Ellos han salido. Hay que + infinitive means "one has to", with no particular person in mind: Hay que esperar. "To have" in the sense of owning is tener, not haber: Tengo un coche.

Haber in sentences

Nunca he estado en México.
I've never been to Mexico.

Anoche hubo un accidente en la autopista.
There was an accident on the motorway last night.

Había mucha gente en la calle.
There were a lot of people in the street.

Mañana habrá tormenta.
There will be a storm tomorrow.

Espero que hayas dormido bien.
I hope you slept well.

How to remember haber

haber [ah-BEHR] sounds like the English “harbor”. Picture this:

Picture a harbor where ships have arrived and docked, sailors reporting they have finished the voyage.

A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method: the sound pulls the meaning along. How it works.

Practice the haber conjugation