There is + There are [16]
Hola, todos.
The verb ‘Haber’ means, roughly, to exist. While it means one other thing, and has a more advanced usage, you just need to wrap your head around 4 things today.
Thing 1: The only conjugation we need at the moment is hay. Let me reiterate that: there is only one conjugation. (The others have six.) This is the only verb that behaves this way. It behaves this way for a very good reason (which is Thing 4).
Thing 2: Hay means ‘there is’ and ‘there are.’ So when you walk into a room and say “there are books, there is a cat,” in Spanish you need to use hay: “hay libros, hay un gato.”
You are merely stating what exists (or doesn’t) in a given space. You are not identifying it (color, race, religion, traits, job), so you don’t use Ser. You are not giving its mood, state of being, or location, so you don’t use Estar. ‘Hay’ only tells us what there is or is not in a given space.
In my apartment, for example, no hay gatos, pero hay un escritorio. “There are no cats, but there is a desk.” To further my point about how basic this verb is, consider that you have no idea what color or material the desk is! You don’t know where in the apartment it is either! (To know that, I would have needed to use Ser and Estar.) All you know is that there is a desk. That’s it. That’s all ‘hay’ does.
Thing 3: In case you forgot the alphabet, go back and restudy. The H is silent. Do not pronounce it—read it as if it said ay, which is a diphthong (two vowels in one syllable). Like I said, go back into the archive and find the alphabet stuff if you have doubts about how to read the word ‘Hay.’
Thing 4: Why is there only 1 conjugation? Well, conjugations exist so that you know who is performing an action. In the case of the verb hay, no one is doing anything—something is simply being. No one is responsible for the action in “there is a star in the sky.” (Hay una estrella en el cielo.)
So, practice saying things that there are and are not in your house. I’ll have another pointer about using hay next time. You’ll want to remember the infinitive, haber, too.