Verbs haber, ser and estar. Irregular verbs in Spanish and their uses Today we present you an article that deals with a very important topic in Spanish grammar. We are going to talk about the verbs haber, ser and estar; of its irregular shapes, its uses, its similarities and its differences. After
Today we present you an article that deals with a very important topic in Spanish grammar.
Let's talk about theverbs haber, ser and estar;of its irregular shapes, its uses, its similarities and its differences.
After reading this article you will become an expert in these verbs.
Your Spanish will take a huge leap in quality. 👏😎
Maybe you are wondering:
"What are the verbs ser, estar and haber? Why do you give them so much importance?"
Well, we Spaniards are like that, we are going to dedicate an article to each verb that exists.
It's a joke. 😝
The truth is that theverbs ser, estar and haber they are very usefuland they are used a lot.
It is essential that you learn to use them well if you want to have a good level of Spanish.
Theseverbs are irregularin many of the times.
Don't you know hisshape?
Come on, let's start with the basics: theverbs ser and estar.
We put them in the present tense, although you probably already know them. 😉
| Person | BE |
|---|---|
|
I |
am |
|
You |
are |
|
He/She/You |
is |
|
We |
are |
|
You |
you are |
|
They/Them/You |
are |
| Person | BE |
|---|---|
|
I |
I'm |
|
You |
are |
|
He/She/You |
this |
|
We |
we are |
|
You |
you are |
|
They/Them/You |
are |
And the other times?
In the following infographic we present all theverbal forms of the verb to beinindicativeand insubjunctive:
And theverb be? Is estar a regular or irregular verb?
Well it depends on the time. Sometimes it is regular and other times it is irregular.
Don't you know all the ways?
No problem!
Here is the infographic of theverb to be in all tensesso that you can study it whenever you want.😉
And what about himverb to have?
This verb is very peculiar becausehas two conjugationsdifferent.
This is something unique in Spanish.
How interesting! Don't you think?
Don't despair, I'll tell you right now the two uses of this verb. 😊
The verb haber can be used as:
Next, let's look at them in detail.
The verb haber as an auxiliary is necessary to create many tenses. As we already saw in the articlePerfect tense, used thepresent of the verb haber + participleto form said time.
Don't you remember?
It's okay, I'll refresh it for you:
| Person | PAST PERFECT VERB TO SPEAK |
|---|---|
|
I |
I havespoken |
|
You |
you havespoken |
|
He/She/You |
haspoken |
|
We |
we have spoken |
|
You |
you have spoken |
|
They/Them/You |
they have spoken |
This is the form ofpresent of the verb haber.
In addition to the present, theconjugation of the verb haberas an auxiliary it is also inother indicative and subjunctive tenses.They are the following:
INDICATIVE
SUBJUNCTIVE
You can see the conjugations in the infographic from above the verb to have.
On the other hand, the verb haber also serves to express existence.
In this case, we only use one way because it's impersonal.
In the present it would be the verb there is.
Example: There are grapes in the refrigerator.
We do not say: I There are grapes in the refrigerator.
That 'I' would be incorrect because These sentences have no subject..
That is, there is no person who does the action.
The grapes are just sitting in the fridge, no one does anything.
You understand?
Other examples so you can see it better:
All of these examples are in the present tense. Now let's see the verb forms of haber as existence in the rest of the times and modes:
In indicative we have the following:
Present – THERE IS
past perfect – HAS BEEN
Past indefinite – THERE WAS
Imperfect Past – THERE WAS
Past pluperfect – There had been
Simple future – THERE WILL BE
Future perfect – There will have been
Simple conditional – Would
Compound conditional – There would have been
In subjunctive they are:
Present – BEECH
past perfect– THERE HAS BEEN
Imperfect Past – WOULD HAVE/WOULD HAVE
Past pluperfect – There would have been/there would have been
Those marked on bold and capitalized They are the ones that are used the most.
Do you want some examples?
Come on! Today I am generous. 😉
HAS BEEN
This week there have been two accidents on my street. Luckily no one was hurt.
THERE WAS
Last night there was a big storm.
THERE WAS
There were many teachers at my school.
BEECH
It bothers me that there is so much junk in my house.
Now let's talk about a very common mistake what people do conjugate the verb haber to talk about existence.
It is about use the verb in plural and it is very frequent with the verb haber in the past, especially in the past imperfect: had.
Let's see some examples so that it is well understood:
Examples:
Which of the two is incorrect?
Come on, I'll give you a moment to think about it.
Do you already know?
The wrong answer is the second because the verb haber is written in plural.
Remember that, in the use of existence, the verb haber is impersonal; It has no subject and, therefore, does not have plural.
This vulgarism It is very common in the form of 'there was', but also it would be wrong in the other forms of verb to have.
Examples:
Another very typical error with the verb to have for existence is to put it next to certain articles: there is the, there is the, there are the, there are the.
The following examples would be wrong:
Instead you can use indefinite articles, numbers, indefinite or just a noun so that prayer is good.
We show you with examples the words with the verb haber that you can use:
indefinite article: one, one, some, some.
Undefined: a lot, enough, a little, enough, too much, several...
Numbers: one, two, three, four, five...
Noun alone:
We have already seen the uses and verbal forms of the verb haber. Now it's time verb be.
If you have already read the article about verbs ser and estar, This will be familiar to you and will serve as a review.
It's always good to review theory, don't you think?
Yes you didn't read the article then great, because we explain some of the uses of the verb estar most important.
We can express the location of people, places, things, animals... practically everything.
The most popular construction is 'be + in'.
Example:
But we can also use other positions with the adverbs of place: inside, outside, next to, in front of, behind, on top of, under…
Examples:
We can talk about how we feel with the verb 'be + adjectives':
Examples:
A. How are you?
B. Today I am happy and excited for my promotion at work.
There are many adjectives that express moods: sad, happy, tired, bored, calm, nervous...
We have an article dedicated to emotions and moods.
If you want to know more, click on the link. 😊
Everything related to emotions seems very interesting to me.
Does the same thing happen to you?
what they are doing our students in the photo?
We can say that they are providing.
Also that they are laughing and taking a drink
Or what they are resting in our cafeteria before the next class starts.
we can use estar + gerund to talk about actions in process (actions not finished, continue) or describe the actions of an image, as we have done.
Don't you know how to form the gerund?
It's very easy.
You simply change the ending of the verbs that end in –AR by –ANDO, and verbs that end in –ER or –IR for –IENDO.
Examples of estar + gerund:
It is good to remember that both participle like him gerund are non-personal forms of the verbs.
NO They change with different people, they are always the same.
We also have a use of estar + participle. 😀
In this case we talk about results of an action.
Normally, when we do an action there is a result.
Examples:
Don't you know how participles are formed?
On regular ones, just change –AR by –ADO and –ER/IR by –IDO.
The use of valuation It's great to express our opinion.
This way your Spanish will look much more interesting. 😉
It is very common to use the word 'good' or 'bad'.
With infinitive for general phrases and impersonal:
Examples:
Or, with subjunctive when there is a subject.
Examples:
A very simple use of the verb estar is to temporary profession with 'be + of'.
We use this to talk about temporary, not permanent, professions. We know we won't be working there for long.
Examples:
Let's go with the uses of verb to be!
The ones we are going to see are very easy, but they are used a lot.
So relax and take note. 😉
We use 'being of' to mark the nationality or origin of a person.
Example:
A thing or an animal can also have an origin:
Examples:
To talk about physical and character of people we use the verb to be.
Examples:
Shall we have a competition? character adjectives?
There are many!
Come on, I'll start:
Nice, unfriendly, intelligent, romantic, patient, calm…wait…these are so easy!
I encourage you to write to me in the comments 3 character adjectives of a higher level.
Surprise me. 😉
Of course, we can also describe to the animals or the objects.
Although in the latter, only his physique.
Today, objects have no personality.
Or so we think... 😂
Before we have seen that with “be of” We can talk about temporary professions.
Instead, we use the verb to be if we want to talk about stable, long-lasting jobs or even definitive.
Examples:
If we wantask the time, we use the verb be in the third person singular (it is).
To answer it, we will use the third person plural (are), because the numbers are plural. A exception of one, which is answered in singular (it is).
Examples:
A. What time is it?
B. It is half past four in the afternoon. (16.30)
A. What time is it?
B. It's one in the morning. (01.00)
A descriptive element of the objects is the materials: wood, plastic, iron, glass…
We can talk about it with 'being of'.
Examples:
Do you remember that with the verb be Can we talk about locations of people, places, animals or things?
Well, with the verb to be we can also locate, but only events.
And what is an event?
We can say that it is an “important” event that many people attend.
Below, we give you some examples so you understand it better:
What a great article! I am very happy.
I really think it will help you a lot.
The verbs haber, ser and estar They are sooooo important.
Now... What do you think if we make some exercises with the verbs haber, ser and estar?
Show me you master them! 😁
Remember that at the end of each exercise you have the solutions.
Let's go there!
Complete the sentences with be, be or have. They can be in present or past perfect:
Complete the sentences with be, be or have. They can be in all past indicative or in present subjunctive:
Complete the sentences with be, be or have. They can be in all past indicative and subjunctive, as well as sentential connectors:
How has it been?
Have you been wanting to know more about the verbs haber, ser and estar?
In Hispania, Spanish school; you can have spanish courses in person in which you will learn and practice these verbs with qualified teachers.
Can't move to Spain?
Don't worry, we also offer online Spanish courses for you to study at home.
See you soon!
Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school
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