Haber Conjugation | How to Conjugate Haber in Spanish

Haber is Spanish’s primary compound-tense auxiliary and also an impersonal verb meaning “there is / there are.” You will learn both functions, its irregular families, hay, and its restricted systems.

Haber conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Haber is structurally special. As an auxiliary it supplies forms such as he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han before another verb’s participle. In existential use it is impersonal: present hay — “there is / there are” — and corresponding third-person singular forms such as había, hubo, habrá.

Haber gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle habido remains invariant in those compounds.

Function	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	haber	to have as an auxiliary
Gerund	habiendo	having / existing
Past participle	habido	had / existed
Compound infinitive	haber habido	to have existed / there to have been
Compound gerund	habiendo habido	there having been

Haber meaning and essential uses

As an auxiliary, haber combines with a participle to form compound tenses: He terminado. — “I have finished.” RAE identifies this as its primary auxiliary function.

As an impersonal verb, haber expresses existence, occurrence, or necessity: Hay dos opciones. — “There are two options.” Hubo una reunión. — “There was a meeting.” Hay que salir. — “It is necessary to leave / we have to leave.” In this existential use, standard agreement remains singular even with a plural noun.

Haber irregular conjugation patterns

The present auxiliary family is he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han. The special impersonal present form is hay. The preterite uses hub-: hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron.

The future and conditional use habr-: habré — “I will have,” habría — “I would have.” The present subjunctive uses hay-: haya, hayas, hayamos. Past-subjunctive and future-subjunctive families use hubier-. The non-finite forms are haber, habiendo, habido.

Haber indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Haber present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. As an auxiliary, use the personal family shown below. The existential present is the separate impersonal form hay — “there is / there are.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he	I have as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	has	you have as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha	he / she has as an auxiliary; you have as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos	we have as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis	you have as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han	they have as an auxiliary; you have as an auxiliary (plural)

• He terminado el informe. — I have finished the report.

The standard existential present does not use the personal rows above. Use the impersonal form below regardless of whether the following noun is singular or plural.

Function	Spanish	Natural English guide
Impersonal existential present	hay	there is / there are

• Hay dos opciones. — There are two options.

Haber preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The personal/auxiliary paradigm uses hub-; existential use normally appears as impersonal hubo — “there was / were.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hube	I had as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	hubiste	you had as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubo	he / she had as an auxiliary; you had as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubimos	we had as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubisteis	you had as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieron	they had as an auxiliary; you had as an auxiliary (plural)

• Hubo una reunión ayer. — There was a meeting yesterday.

Haber imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. The personal auxiliary paradigm is shown below; existential use normally uses impersonal había — “there was / were.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había	I used to have as an auxiliary / was having / existing
Tú — you, singular informal	habías	you used to have as an auxiliary / were having / existing
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había	he / she used to have as an auxiliary / was having / existing; you used to have as an auxiliary / were having / existing (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos	we used to have as an auxiliary / were having / existing
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais	you used to have as an auxiliary / were having / existing (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían	they used to have as an auxiliary / were having / existing; you used to have as an auxiliary (plural)

• Había mucha gente en la sala. — There were many people in the room.

Haber present progressive

Restricted to impersonal or special contexts. The self-progressive six-person pattern would be misleading. Modern Spanish can use impersonal está habiendo — “there is/are taking place” — when an event or change is in progress.

Function	Spanish	Natural English guide
Impersonal progressive	está habiendo	there is / are taking place; there is / are occurring

• Está habiendo cambios importantes. — Important changes are taking place.

Haber near future conjugation

Restricted in the existential sense. The natural existential near future is impersonal va a haber — “there is / are going to be.” A six-person table would wrongly suggest personal existential agreement.

Function	Spanish	Natural English guide
Impersonal near future	va a haber	there is / are going to be

• Va a haber una reunión mañana. — There is going to be a meeting tomorrow.

Haber future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, when useful, probability. The personal auxiliary paradigm uses habr-; existential use normally uses impersonal habrá — “there will be.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré	I will have as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás	you will have as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá	he / she will have as an auxiliary; you will have as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos	we will have as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis	you will have as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán	they will have as an auxiliary; you will have as an auxiliary (plural)

• Habrá tiempo suficiente. — There will be enough time.

Haber conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The personal auxiliary paradigm uses habr-; existential use normally uses impersonal habría — “there would be.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría	I would have as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías	you would have as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría	he / she would have as an auxiliary; you would have as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos	we would have as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais	you would have as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían	they would have as an auxiliary; you would have as an auxiliary (plural)

• Habría más opciones con otro presupuesto. — There would be more options with another budget.

Haber present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he habido	I have had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	has habido	you have had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha habido	he / she has had / existed; you have had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos habido	we have had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis habido	you have had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han habido	they have had / existed; you have had / existed (plural)

• Ha habido varios cambios. — There have been several changes.

Haber past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había habido	I had had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	habías habido	you had had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había habido	he / she had had / existed; you had had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos habido	we had had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais habido	you had had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían habido	they had had / existed; you had had / existed (plural)

• Había habido problemas antes. — There had been problems before.

Haber future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré habido	I will have had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás habido	you will have had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá habido	he / she will have had / existed; you will have had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos habido	we will have had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis habido	you will have had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán habido	they will have had / existed; you will have had / existed (plural)

• Para entonces habrá habido tres reuniones. — By then there will have been three meetings.

Haber conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría habido	I would have had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías habido	you would have had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría habido	he / she would have had / existed; you would have had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos habido	we would have had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais habido	you would have had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían habido	they would have had / existed; you would have had / existed (plural)

• Habría habido menos retrasos con otro sistema. — There would have been fewer delays with another system.

Haber subjunctive conjugations

Haber present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. The personal auxiliary family is haya...; existential use normally appears as impersonal haya — “there be / there is” in a subjunctive environment.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya	that I have as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas	that you have as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya	that he / she have as an auxiliary; that you have as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos	that we have as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis	that you have as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan	that they have as an auxiliary; that you have as an auxiliary (plural)

• Espero que haya tiempo suficiente. — I hope there is enough time.

Haber imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. The main table shows the personal auxiliary -ra series; existential use normally uses impersonal hubiera. The -se alternative hubiese is also valid.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera	that I had as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras	that you had as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera	that he / she had as an auxiliary; that you had as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos	that we had as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais	that you had as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran	that they had as an auxiliary; that you had as an auxiliary (plural)

• Era posible que hubiera más opciones. — It was possible that there were more options.
• Era posible que hubiese más opciones. — It was possible that there were more options.

Haber future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. The rare personal auxiliary family uses hubier-; existential reference use normally appears as impersonal hubiere.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere	if / when I should have as an auxiliary
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres	if / when you should have as an auxiliary
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere	if / when he / she should have as an auxiliary; if / when you should have as an auxiliary (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos	if / when we should have as an auxiliary
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis	if / when you should have as an auxiliary (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren	if / when they should have as an auxiliary; if / when you should have as an auxiliary (plural)

• Si hubiere alguna duda, deberá comunicarse. — If there should be any doubt, it must be reported.

Haber present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya habido	that I have had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas habido	that you have had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya habido	that he / she has had / existed; that you have had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos habido	that we have had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis habido	that you have had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan habido	that they have had / existed; that you have had / existed (plural)

• Me alegra que haya habido avances. — I am glad that there have been advances.

Haber past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera habido	that I had had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras habido	that you had had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera habido	that he / she had had / existed; that you had had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos habido	that we had had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais habido	that you had had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran habido	that they had had / existed; that you had had / existed (plural)

• Si hubiera habido más tiempo, habríamos revisado todo. — If there had been more time, we would have reviewed everything.
• Si hubiese habido otra opción, la habríamos considerado. — If there had been another option, we would have considered it.

Haber future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. RAE records the compound forms with participle habido. In ordinary existential usage, the third-person singular form is the practical learner target.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere habido	if / when I should have had / existed
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres habido	if / when you should have had / existed
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere habido	if / when he / she should have had / existed; if / when you should have had / existed (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos habido	if / when we should have had / existed
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis habido	if / when you should have had / existed (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren habido	if / when they should have had / existed; if / when you should have had / existed (plural)

• Si hubiere habido algún cambio, deberá constar en el acta. — If there should have been any change, it must appear in the minutes.

Haber imperative and commands

Haber affirmative commands

Restricted and marked. RAE records affirmative imperative forms of haber, but they are not a productive everyday five-row command system for the auxiliary or existential meanings taught in this lesson. The source-supported reference forms are shown without inventing a nosotros/nosotras command.

Function	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú / vos reference form	he	marked affirmative form
Tú / vos alternative	habe	marked affirmative alternative
Usted	haya	formal/jussive reference form
Vosotros / Vosotras	habed	plural informal reference form
Ustedes	hayan	plural reference form

• Haya paz. — Let there be peace.

Haber negative commands

No ordinary productive negative-command paradigm is taught. Negating haber in its auxiliary or existential uses normally creates a statement or subordinate form, not a natural direct command. The contract therefore requires a restriction notice rather than fabricated rows or examples.

• No haya dudas. — Let there be no doubts.

Common constructions with Haber

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• haber + participle. — auxiliary used to form compound tenses.
• hay / había / hubo / habrá + noun. — there is / are, there was / were, there will be.
• hay que + infinitive. — it is necessary to / one must / we have to.

Example sentences with Haber

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• Hay una farmacia cerca. — There is a pharmacy nearby.
• Hay dos problemas pendientes. — There are two pending problems.
• No hubo tiempo suficiente. — There was not enough time.
• Ha habido muchos cambios este año. — There have been many changes this year.
• Hay que confirmar la reserva. — We have to confirm the reservation.
• He de salir temprano. — I must / am to leave early.

Regional and usage notes for Haber

The standard existential construction is impersonal: Había muchas personas. — “There were many people.” Pluralized existential forms such as habían muchas personas are widespread in some areas but are not the standard form taught here.

The auxiliary paradigm itself follows the same person agreement across regions; the lesson keeps the standard forms used by RAE/ASALE.

Haber must be learned by function. Use its personal forms as an auxiliary before participles, but treat existential haber as impersonal, with hay in the present and singular forms such as había, hubo, habrá even before plural nouns.