This verb should be familiar to you—it is the auxiliary verb “to have” that you've been introduced to when learning about the present perfect tense.

He sido plomero. I have been a plumber.

1. Ask questions characterized by existence:

Hay alguién aquí? Is there someone here?

2. State the existence of something:

Hay pan fresco en la cocina. There is fresh bread in the kitchen.

3. State a broad “impersonal” obligation (lacking a specific subject, sometimes translated into English as “one”) in the form of hay + que + infinitive:

Hay que luchar por la vida. One must fight for one's life.

There are two important distinctions to be made regarding hay and other verbs with similar uses. First, there is a tendency to confuse hay with forms of estar. It is best to distinguish them by noting that whereas estar expresses the position or location of someone or something, hay refers to that someone's or something's very existence. Compare:

Está en casa. He is at home. Hay alguien en casa. There is someone at home.

Second, there is also a tendency to confuse hay with tener within a tener que + infinitive phrase. Remember that while both expressions express an obligation, tener que … has a specific subject (and tener is conjugated according to that subject), whereas the hay que … construction expresses an obligation not specifically assigned to a particular individual. Compare:

Hay que comprarlo. Someone should buy it. Tengo que comprarlo. I have to buy it.

Other Uses and Applications of Haber

As an auxiliary verb, haber plays an important role in forming compound tenses. Though these tenses are really beyond the scope of this book, here's a short preview of what to expect.

When it comes to verb tenses, recall that a completed action is described as being “perfect.” This being the case, you will often find a form of haber helping the past participle of a verb achieve this completion. You've already seen this occur in the present perfect, where haber is conjugated in the present tense to bring the completed action of a recent past into closer focus by means of the present. For example:

Yo he terminado el trabajo. I have finished the work. Te has duchado ya? Have you already showered?

In the past perfect (or pluperfect) tense, the past participle remains, but haber is conjugated in the imperfect.

Haber Conjugated in the Imperfect Tense

yo había tú habías él, ella, usted había nosotros, nosotras habíamos vosotros, vosotras habíais ellos, ellas, ustedes habían

The key to understanding this tense is the use of “had” in its translation. The focus on completed action is now shifted from the present back to the past. For example:

Yo ya había terminado el trabajo. I had already finished the work. ¿Te habías duchado ya? Had you already showered?

Similarly, haber also appears in the future perfect tense.

Haber in the Future Perfect Tense

yo habré tú habrás él, ella, usted habrá nosotros, nosotras habremos vosotros, vosotras habréis ellos, ellas, ustedes habrán

This compound tense is used in two situations:

1. To describe an action as something that “will have” occurred by a deadline of sorts:

Yo habré terminado el trabajo para las dos. I will have finished the work by two.

2. To describe an action as something that “must have” occurred, though there is a very slight chance that it hasn't:

Me habré equivocado. I must have been mistaken.

The last compound tense in the indicative mood is the conditional perfect. This tense is the hardest to grasp because the focus of the completed action is not a single point in time but a continuum. See the following table for conditional-tense conjugations of haber.

Haber Conjugated in Conditional Perfect Tense

yo habría tú habrías él, ella, usted habría nosotros, nosotras habríamos vosotros, vosotras habríais ellos, ellas, ustedes habrían

There are four uses for the conditional perfect. They include:

1. Expressing a future action sandwiched between two events:

Usted me aseguró que habría pintado la casa antes de entregármela. You assured me that you would have painted the house before giving it to me.

2. Expressing an action that failed because of some hindrance:

Yo habría terminado el trabajo, pero no tenía las herramientas adecuadas. I would have finished the work, but I did not have the appropriate tools.

3. Expressing an expansive past probability, allowing for conjecture or approximation. Looking at a situation may assist in getting a better handle on this use. If someone were to ask, “Why is Tom not in his office?” one possible response is, “He must have become ill” (the future perfect). But if the question was posed as a past event, “Why was Tom not in his office?” a possible response to this query is, “He must have been ill” (conditional perfect; se habría enfermado). Remember: Both responses express probabilities, but the former forms a conjecture that begins in the future, and the latter forms one rooted in the past.