Spanish tip of the month. Plural of 'hay'?
| We'll talk about the Spanish form hay. We already know it means "There is" or "there are", and it is always used in singular. That is why it is very important to know there is a bad use of hay among native Spanish speakers. When people use the present tense form (hay), they always use it ok but, when using this form in past or future tense, they use the plural, which is incorrect. Let's see some examples to understand this point: "Había tres sillas en la cocina." Its translation is: "There were three chairs in the kitchen". But some people, instead of using "había" in singular, wich is correct, they use "habían", as they think this verb should be plural because we are talking about 'three chairs', which is plural. So, they say: "Habían tres sillas en la cocina", and this completely wrong. More examples: Mañana habrán muchas personas en la fiesta. (There will be a lot people at the party tomorrow) ---> WRONG Mañana habrá muchas personas en la fiesta. (There will be a lot people at the party tomorrow) ---> CORRECT Hubieron tres libros sobre la mesa. (There were three books on the table) ---> WRONG Hubo tres libros sobre la mesa (There were three books on the table) ---> CORRECT As a final note, remember the onnly way to express "there is" and/or "there are" in Spanish is "hay". This form is ALWAYS used in singular, never in plural. |
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