¡Hay un pelo en la sopa! The impersonal form “hay” in Spanish.
The impersonal form "hay" is a form of the verb haber that is used to indicate the existence of something. It is very frequently used in the language and is a source of very common errors even among native speakers. In this article we will look at the grammar of this construction, its uses and common errors, as well as examples of usage. Let's go!
Hay, in conjugation tables, is placed in the third person singular of the present indicative of the verb haber. I suppose this is by convention, because in reality it is an impersonal form, or because in other tenses, as we will see, it does coincide with the third person singular. The fact is that it is an impersonal form, that is, it does not vary with the number of the noun it introduces: “hay una manzana” (there is an apple), and “hay mil manzanas” (there are a thousand apples). This is the same for all Spanish tenses, something that as we will see later is a source of very frequent errors even among native speakers. It is used to indicate the existence of something in the world, as a general concept, that is, to indicate that something exists or is present, something that can be a physical thing, like an apple, but also something more abstract, like a problem or a feeling. Or, even, as we will see, it serves to express the need to carry out an action.
Grammatical structure.
Hay + Countable Nouns.
Hay + un, una + singular countable noun + (adjectives or complements). Hay un vaso sucio. (There is a dirty glass). Hay una piedra en mi zapato. (There is a stone in my shoe).
If we use a singular noun we always have to use the indefinite article: hay vaso sucio (there is dirty glass) is ungrammatical. If we omit the noun, un becomes uno: ¿Hay un hotel por aquí? (Is there a hotel around here?) Sí, hay uno en la esquina. (Yes, there is one on the corner).
Hay + (unos, unas, dos, tres…, muchos/as, pocos/as) + plural countable noun + (adjectives or complements). Hay (unos, tres, muchos, pocos) vasos sucios. (There are [some, three, many, few] dirty glasses). Hay (una, tres, muchas, pocas) piedras en mi zapato. (There are [one, three, many, few] stones in my shoe).
If we use a plural noun, the use of the indefinite article or a quantifier is not mandatory. Hay vasos sucios (there are dirty glasses), hay unos vasos sucios (there are some dirty glasses), hay algunos vasos sucios (there are some dirty glasses), hay muchos vasos sucios (there are many dirty glasses) are all correct examples with different semantic meanings.
¿Hay + un, una + singular countable noun + (adjectives or complements)? ¿Hay un vaso sucio? (Is there a dirty glass?) ¿Hay una piedra en mi zapato? (Is there a stone in my shoe?)
¿Hay + (unos, unas, dos, tres…, muchos/as, pocos/as) + plural countable noun + (adjectives or complements)? ¿Hay (unos, tres, muchos, pocos) vasos sucios? (Are there [some, three, many, few] dirty glasses?) ¿Hay (una, tres, muchas, pocas) piedras en mi zapato? (Are there [one, three, many, few] stones in my shoe?)
In the interrogative form the sentence is structured the same as in the affirmative form.
¿Cuántos/as + plural countable noun + (adjective) + hay + (complements)? ¿Cuántos vasos sucios hay en la cocina? (How many dirty glasses are there in the kitchen?) ¿Cuántas piedras hay en tu zapato? (How many stones are there in your shoe?)
In the interrogative form with cuántos/as we normally use the plural form of nouns since by using the grammatical structure with hay we are referring, from a semantic point of view, to something we don’t know or something we know nothing about, so we are not able to specify the quantity. Additionally, in the interrogative form adjectives normally go before the word hay.
No hay + (ningún, ninguna) + singular countable noun + (complements). No hay ningún teatro en esta ciudad. (There is no theater in this city). No hay ninguna farmacia en mi barrio. (There is no pharmacy in my neighborhood).
No hay + (muchos, muchas) + plural countable noun + (complements).
No hay muchas personas en el estadio. (There are not many people in the stadium). No hay montañas en Uruguay. (There are no mountains in Uruguay).
When we construct negative sentences the grammatical structure is maintained, we simply add no which always goes before hay. If we vary the position of other elements in the sentence this is maintained: En Uruguay no hay montañas. (In Uruguay there are no mountains.) In the case of plural nouns, adding the word muchos or muchas conveys the message of existence of a small quantity, and omitting them conveys the idea of non-existence of the noun.
Hay + Uncountable Nouns.
(No) Hay + (mucho/a, poco/a) + uncountable noun + (complements). ¿Hay leche en el refri? (Is there milk in the fridge?) Hay poca leche. (There is little milk.) Hay poca. (There is little.)
As can be seen, with uncountable nouns the structure is very similar, and again in negative sentences we simply add no before hay.
¿Cuánto/a + uncountable noun + hay + (complements)? ¿Cuánta leche hay en el refri? (How much milk is there in the fridge?) Hay poca, mucha, suficiente. (There is little, a lot, enough). No hay. (There isn’t any.)
In questions with cuánto/a the word hay is placed after the noun.
Uses of hay.
Hay is used to indicate or ask about the existence of something or someone in a certain situation:
¿Hay un supermercado cerca? (Is there a supermarket nearby?)
¿Hay algún policía por aquí? (Is there a police officer around here?)
It is also used to express or ask about quantities:
En un equipo de fútbol hay once jugadores. (In a soccer team there are eleven players).
¿Cuántas manzanas hay en ese canasto? (How many apples are there in that basket?)
Likewise, it is used to ask about the location of something we don’t know if it exists or not:
– ¿Dónde hay un supermercado en este barrio? (Where is there a supermarket in this neighborhood?)
– En este barrio no hay ninguno. (In this neighborhood there isn’t one).
It is also used to indicate or ask about availability of something:
No hay más entradas para el concierto. (There are no more tickets for the concert).
Hay mesas libres en el restaurante. (There are free tables in the restaurant).
Important: hay is used to indicate existence of something, therefore that noun will by definition be indefinite. Thus, hay cannot be used with a definite article, since this article refers to a specific unit within a group of nouns. That is, hay la manzana (there is the apple) or hay los gatos (there are the cats) are incorrect sentences.
Hay + que + infinitive.
With this verbal periphrasis (here you can read about periphrases) the need to carry out an action is indicated. And by action I mean verbal action, since as we will see in the examples it can be used even with copulative verbs, which have almost no semantic content. It is a structure widely used in both spoken and written language. It is an impersonal way of expressing that it is necessary to do something. This can be expressed as a general obligation, such as if during a break at work someone says hay que trabajar (we have to work), in which case the obligation to work probably falls on all people, but it can also have a subjective meaning. For example, if a person tells you hay que sacar la basura (the trash needs to be taken out) while having the possibility of doing it themselves, they are probably also telling you that they expect you to take it out, avoiding using an imperative sentence. The structure is simply that, hay + que + infinitive, and for negative sentences no is added before hay. Of course, all necessary complements can be added. Let’s see some examples.
Hay que limpiar la casa. (The house needs to be cleaned).
Hay que ser inteligente en la vida. (One must be intelligent in life).
Hay que dormir 8 horas al día. (One must sleep 8 hours a day).
Hay que serlo y parecerlo. (One must be it and seem it).
No hay que comprar pan, hay mucho. (We don’t need to buy bread, there is plenty).
No hay que trabajar tanto. (One doesn’t need to work so much).
No hay que ser un genio para resolver este problema. (You don’t need to be a genius to solve this problem).
No hay que tenerle miedo al éxito. (One shouldn’t be afraid of success).
Common mistakes.
A very common mistake with the use of this structure, which is even made very frequently by native speakers, is the use of the third person plural in other tenses different from the present indicative. In the present indicative this doesn’t happen because the form hay is unique, but in the rest of the tenses the third person singular is used, for each tense, which coincides with that of the conjugation of the verb haber. Thus, it is very frequent that when dealing with countable nouns in the plural, the third person plural is used instead.
Correct: Hubo un problema. (There was a problem).
Hubo problemas. (There were problems).
Incorrect: Hubieron problemas. (There were problems). ❌
Correct: Había mucha gente en el estadio. (There were many people in the stadium).
Había muchas personas en el estadio. (There were many people in the stadium).
Incorrect: Habían muchas personas en el estadio. (There were many people in the stadium). ❌
I think that was enough information for this article. Additionally, this structure has comparable structures in German, French and English, so it seems like a good exercise to make a comparison of the grammars to understand it more quickly. At least, it helps me a lot to do it. Here I leave you exercises to practice this topic. Thanks for reading!
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