Introduction to the Verb Haber
The verb haber is used very commonly to denote a
definite “there is”, or “there are”, or “there will be”, etc. When used this way, it is used without a past
participle and is always conjugated in the third person singular.
In the
present tense indicative, we use the verb hay
(pronounced like the English subject pronoun “I”). This conjugation is actually the only irregular tense of haber, but it is easily distinguishable
in speech. This is most likely due to
the verb’s linguistic evolution as it is very commonly used in the
lexicon. You will probably use hay frequently.
When using
any form of haber this way, it is
common to omit the article:
Hay ladrones en la casa. There are thieves in the house.
Hay nubes. There
are clouds.
Hay huracán en el Caribe. There is a hurricane in the Caribbean.
Hay problemas en mi clase de matemáticas. There are problems in my mathematics class.
Here are a
couple of examples of haber used
this way in other tenses:
Preterit:
Hubo un terremoto ayer.
There was an earthquake yesterday.
Hubo unos relámpagos
anoche. There
was lightning last night.
Imperfect:
Había unos peatones en la esquina. There
were some pedestrians on the corner.
Había mucho tráfico. There
was a lot of traffic.
Future:
Habrá una tormenta esta tarde. There will be a storm this afternoon.
Habrá una fiesta en la casa de Carla. There
will be a party at Carla’s house.
Present
Subjunctive Mood:
Yo espero que haya verduras frescas en el mercado.
I hope that there are fresh vegetables in the market.
Conditional
(not frequently used):
¡Habría una fiesta! There
would be a party!
Conditional
with Past Subjunctive Mood in a Si- Clause (not frequently used):
Habría una recompensa si el ladrón fuera arrestado. There
would be a reward if the thief was arrested.
Keep
in mind that the above examples are also the third person singular conjugation
of haber in the appropriate tense,
with the exception of hay. This is important as they will also be the
building blocks of the perfect tenses we are going to construct in the next few
Chapters.
Beginning in
this Chapter we’re going to delve into what is known in the grammar world as
the perfect tense. The perfect tense is used when referring to a
past action that is perceived to the speaker of being carried in to the
present. . It is a a type of statement used by the
speaker in order to state with more certainty a completed action.
The perfect
tense is different from the simple tense in that it relies on an auxiliary verb
haber, which can be conjugated in
myriad ways, including the present, future, past, and conditional tenses. It can also be conjugated in the subjunctive
mood, both past and present.
The formula
for creating the perfect tense is simple:
Subject pronoun
(optional.) + pronoun + conjugation of haber
+ past participle
Note the
following sentences in English. Each
employs a different perfect tense verb phrase, which has been underlined for
your convenience:
I have gone to bed.
He has stepped outside.
By 1982, Dave and
Cassie had been married for 10 years.
By next Thursday, I will
have finished writing this lesson.
You and Victor would have left if I told you not to stay.
The verb haber is used very commonly to denote a
definite “there is”, or “there are”, or “there will be”, etc. When used this way, it is used without a past
participle and is always conjugated in the third person singular.
In the
present tense indicative, we use the verb hay
(pronounced like the English subject pronoun “I”). This conjugation is actually the only irregular tense of haber, but it is easily distinguishable
in speech. This is most likely due to
the verb’s linguistic evolution as it is very commonly used in the
lexicon. You will probably use hay frequently.
When using
any form of haber this way, it is
common to omit the indefinite article:
Hay ladrones en la casa. There are thieves in the house.
Hay nubes. There
are clouds.
Hay huracán en el Caribe. There is a hurricane in the Caribbean.
Hay problemas en mi clase de matemáticas. There are problems in my mathematics class.
Here are a
couple of examples of haber used
this way in other tenses:
Preterit:
Hubo un terremoto ayer.
There was an earthquake yesterday.
Hubo unos relámpagos
anoche. There
was lightning last night.
Imperfect:
Había unos peatones en la esquina. There
were some pedestrians on the corner.
Había mucho tráfico. There
was a lot of traffic.
Future:
Habrá una tormenta esta tarde. There will be a storm this afternoon.
Habrá una fiesta en la casa de Carla. There
will be a party at Carla’s house.
Present
Subjunctive Mood:
Yo espero que haya verduras frescas en el mercado.
I hope that there are fresh vegetables in the market.
Conditional
(not frequently used):
¡Habría una fiesta! There
would be a party!
Conditional
with Past Subjunctive Mood in a Si- Clause (not frequently used):
Habría una recompensa si el ladrón fuera arrestado. There
would be a reward if the thief was arrested.
Keep
in mind that the above examples are also the third person singular conjugation
of haber in the appropriate tense,
with the exception of hay. This is important as they will also be the
building blocks of the perfect tenses we are going to construct in the next few
Chapters.
The Perfect Tense – Present Indicative
The perfect
tense of the present indicative is formed with the auxiliary verb haber (conjugated in the present tense), juxtaposed to the past
participle. When used in the perfect
tenses, participles are always formed in the singular masculine. This is different than when participles are
used as adjectives, as they must agree with the noun’s number (singular or
plural) and gender (whether it is masculine or feminine). This topic was covered in Unit 9, so be sure
to go and revisit that material if you aren’t certain about this grammar
aspect.
Since haber is auxiliary, it is highly
specialized. As you learned in the last section,
we can use haber to mean “there is”, “there are”, “there will be”,
etc. But when used in a perfect tense
verb phrase, it must be conjugated to match the subject pronoun like any other
verb.
Recall the
formula you were introduced to in the last Chapter, as it will be the basis for
forming every perfect tense verb phrase in the future:
Subject Pronoun (opt.) + haber + past participle
All that’s
left is to fill in the correct verb conjugation for haber and the desired past participle and you have it made. Let’s first look at the easiest conjugation
of haber, the present tense
indicative:
yo he
|
nosotros
hemos
|
tú has
|
vosotors
habéis
|
él,
ella, Ud. ha
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. han
|
Since haber serves as the auxiliary parts of
these verb phrases, we then pair them with the participle of a verb. Remember, the participle used must retain the
singular masculine form:
Yo he terminado.
I have
finished.
¿Tú has ido a
Barcelona, verdad? You
have gone to Barcelona, right?
El mariachi ha
tocado la guitarra bien. The mariachi has played the guitar well.
Nosotros hemos
peleado duro. We have
fought hard.
Vosotros habéis
ganado. You all
have won.
Los árbitros han
tocado el silbato. The referees have blown the whistle.
Don’t forget
to review the irregular past participles!
We can also use them as parts of perfect tense verb phrases:
Hemos visto esa
película. We’ve
seen that movie.
He puesto la
mesa. I have
set the table.
¿Ya has vuelto?
Have you returned yet?
Mis padres han abierto
la tienda. My
parents have opened the store.
Los niños han dicho
muchos chistes. The kids
have told a lot of jokes.
La muchacha ha hecho
un castillo de arena. The
girl has made a sand castle.
Los cocineros han frito
el pollo. The
cooks have fried the chicken.
Las plantas han muerto.
The
plants have died.
Yo he escrito
una novela. I
have written a novel.
Has roto tu
juguete. You
have broken your toy.
Vosotros habéis cubierto
la botella. You all
have covered the bottle.
Ellos han impreso
el documento. They
have printed the document.
El abogado ha satisfecho
al jurado. The lawyer has satisfied the jury.
Comments
Post a Comment