Haber Conjugation 101: Conjugate Haber in Spanish

Haber is an auxiliary verb in Spanish. Since you’ll use it to build tenses and key meanings, you must get familiar with the haber conjugation charts. So, here is a summary of what we’ll cover in this guide:

Overview of Haber

Verb Characteristic	Property
Verb Type	-ER
Irregular	Yes
Infinitive	Haber
Gerund (Present Participle) Form	Habiendo
Past Participle Form	Habido
Synonyms	Existir, tener.

Irregularities:

Present: h for all subject pronouns.
Preterite: hub for all subject pronouns.
Future & Conditional: habr for all subject pronouns.
Present Subjunctive: hay for all subject pronouns.
Imperfect Subjunctive: hubie for all subject pronouns.

In Spanish, haber needs a complement in order to provide any meaning. Use nouns when working as an impersonal form, such as hay (there is/there are). As an auxiliary verb, haber must be combined with other verbs. You can learn more about how to use haber in the section Uses & Meanings.

Indicative Conjugations of Haber

Present tense

Haber conjugations in the present tense are formed with the stem h and both -AR and -ER present endings. Hay is the impersonal form of haber in the present tense. We conjugate this verb to this tense to formally express obligation or to form the indicative present perfect tense.

For example: Hemos de ayudar a nuestros amigos.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	He	I have
Tú	Has	You have
Él / Ella Usted	Ha	He/She has You (formal) have
Nosotros	Hemos	We have
Vosotros	Habéis	You have
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Han	They have You (plural) have

Take Note: Although it’s translated as ‘to have’, in Spanish, haber is not used to talk about possession. In this context, you must use the verb tener instead. Since they’re both essential verbs, you must understand the differences between haber and tener in Spanish.

Preterite tense

Haber preterite conjugation is also irregular. These past preterite forms are conjugated with the stem hub. When conjugated to the preterite tense, haber can be used to describe the presence of something at some point in the past.

For example: No hubo leche.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Hube	I had
Tú	Hubiste	You had
Él / Ella Usted	Hubo	He/She had You (formal) had
Nosotros	Hubimos	We had
Vosotros	Hubisteis	You had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hubieron	They had You (plural) had

Imperfect tense

Haber imperfect conjugations are regular. We use haber conjugated to the past imperfect tense to form the Spanish past perfect tense. You can also use the impersonal form había to explain what there was (the presence or existence of something) at some point in the past.

For example: Había mucha gente en el parque.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Había	I had I used to have
Tú	Habías	You had You used to have
Él / Ella Usted	Había	He/She had He/She used to have You (formal) had You (formal) used to have
Nosotros	Habíamos	We had We used to
Vosotros	Habíais	You had You used to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habían	They had They used to You (plural) had You (plural) used to

Take Note: Había una vez (once upon a time) is a Spanish expression used to start stories. This expression is formed with haber’s imperfect form.

Near future

The Spanish immediate future of haber is formed with ir (present tense) + a + haber. We use these haber conjugations to talk about the things there will be somewhere. For instance: Escuché que va a haber música en vivo.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Voy a haber	I’m going to have
Tú	Vas a haber	You’re going to have
Él / Ella Usted	Va a haber	He/She is going to have You (formal) are going to have
Nosotros	Vamos a haber	We’re going to have
Vosotros	Vais a haber	You’re going to have
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Van a haber	They’re going to have You (plural) are going to have

Future simple tense

Haber future tense conjugation is formed with the irregular stem habr. These future forms are used to form the future perfect tense in Spanish. You can also use the impersonal form habrá to discuss the things there will be somewhere. En unos minutos, habremos aprendido a conjugar haber.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habré	I will have
Tú	Habrás	You will have
Él / Ella Usted	Habrá	He/She will have You (formal) will have
Nosotros	Habremos	We will have
Vosotros	Habréis	You (formal) will have
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrán	They will have You (plural) will have

Conditional tense

Use the stem habr to conjugate haber to the conditional indicative tense in Spanish. In the conditional tense, this verb is used to form the conditional perfect tense or, in its impersonal form, to refer to the things there would be somewhere.

For example: ¿Por qué habría tanta gente?

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habría	I would have
Tú	Habrías	You would have
Él / Ella Usted	Habría	He/She would have You (formal) would have
Nosotros	Habríamos	We would have
Vosotros	Habríais	You would have
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrían	They would have You (plural) would have

Present perfect tense

The present perfect indicative tense is the combination of haber in the present tense + past participle. When conjugated to this tense, haber is commonly used in its impersonal form (third-person singular) to refer to the things there have or haven’t been somewhere.

For example: Ha habido muchas irregularidades.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	He habido	I have had
Tú	Has habido	You have had
Él / Ella Usted	Ha habido	He/She has had You (formal) have had
Nosotros	Hemos habido	We have had
Vosotros	Habéis habido	You have had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Han habido	They have had You (plural) have had

Past perfect

When conjugated to the past perfect tense in Spanish, haber is used in its impersonal form to refer to the things that had been in a certain place before another past event. For example: Desde enero, no había habido tanta gente.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Había habido	I had had
Tú	Habías habido	You had had
Él / Ella Usted	Había habido	He/She had had You (formal) had had
Nosotros	Habíamos habido	We had had
Vosotros	Habíais habido	You had had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habían habido	They had had You (plural) had had

Future perfect

The future perfect forms of haberare formed with haber future form + past participle form of ‘haber’. In this tense, this verb communicates that something will have been in a certain place before or by a certain point in the future. ¿Habrá habido algún problema?

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habré habido	I will have had
Tú	Habrás habido	You will have had
Él / Ella Usted	Habrá habido	He/She will have had You (formal) will have had
Nosotros	Habremos habido	We will have had
Vosotros	Habréis habido	You will have had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrán habido	They will have had You (plural) will have had

Conditional perfect

We conjugate haber to the conditional perfect tense in Spanish to communicate that there would have been something if a past circumstance had been met. For instance: Si no hubiéramos hecho nada, habría habido más problemas.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habría habido	I would have had
Tú	Habrías habido	You would have had
Él / Ella Usted	Habría habido	He/She would have had You (formal) would have had
Nosotros	Habríamos habido	We would have had
Vosotros	Habríais habido	You would have had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrían habido	They would have had You (plural) would have had

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses in Spanish are formed by conjugating the verb estar + habido (present participle). These conjugations of haber are used to emphasize that there is something at the moment of speaking. For example: Está habiendo muchas quejas.

Progressive Tense	Formula	Translation Example
Present	Estar (present) + habiendo	I am having
Preterite	Estar (preterite) + habiendo	You were having
Imperfect	Estar (imperfect) + habiendo	He was having
Future	Estar (future) + habiendo	We will be having
Conditional	Estar (conditional) + habiendo	They would be having

Haber Subjunctive Conjugations

You must use the subjunctive mood in Spanish to talk about wishes, suggestions, hopes, expectations, requests, doubts, or hypothetical situations. Haber subjunctive conjugations are used to build perfect subjunctive tenses or to refer to the potential presence of something (impersonal forms).

In the sections below, you’ll find haber conjugation charts for the most important subjunctive tenses.

Present subjunctive

The haber subjunctive conjugations are formed with the stem hay. When working as an auxiliary verb, these conjugations of haber are used to form the present perfect subjunctive. You can also use the third-person singular conjugation to hope there is something in a certain place.

For example: No creo que ustedes hayan ido a la tienda or Espero que todavía haya pizza.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Haya	I have
Tú	Hayas	You have
Él / Ella Usted	Haya	He/She has You (formal) have
Nosotros	Hayamos	We have
Vosotros	Hayáis	You have
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hayan	They have You (plural) have

Present perfect subjunctive

In Spanish, the present perfect subjunctive of ‘haber’ is formed by conjugating haber to the imperfect tense + past participle (habido). Use the conjugations to wonder or express doubt on whether there is or isn’t something. For instance: Dudo que haya habido camisas rojas.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Haya habido	I have had
Tú	Hayas habido	You have had
Él / Ella Usted	Haya habido	He/She has had You (formal) have had
Nosotros	Hayamos habido	We have had
Vosotros	Hayáis habido	You have had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hayan habido	They have had You (plural) have had

Imperfect subjunctive

Hubie is the stem we must use to conjugate haber to the Spanish imperfect subjunctive tense. If working as an auxiliary verb, these conjugations are used to form the past perfect subjunctive. You can also use haber’s impersonal form to express past wishes related to the existence of something in a place.

For example: Me gustaría que hubiera más flores or Si hubiera sabido, no habría ido.

Depending on the type of Spanish (Latin American or Castilian) you use, the imperfect subjunctive tense has two conjugation models:

Latin American Spanish version

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Hubiera	I had
Tú	Hubieras	You had
Él / Ella Usted	Hubiera	He/She had You (formal) had
Nosotros	Hubiéramos	We had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hubieran	They had You (plural) had

Note: Because vosotros is not used in Latin American Spanish. So, the haber conjugation for this subject pronoun has not been included in the conjugation chart above.

Castilian Spanish version

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Hubiese	I had
Tú	Hubieses	You had
Él / Ella Usted	Hubiese	He/She had You (formal) had
Nosotros	Hubiésemos	We had
Vosotros	Hubieseis	You had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hubiesen	They had You (plural) had

Past perfect subjunctive

When conjugated to the past perfect subjunctive, haber conveys that there would have been something if a past condition was met. These subjunctive conjugations can also express regret because there was or wasn’t something in a place.

For example: Hubiera sido más agradable si no hubiera habido tanta gente.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Hubiera habido	I had had
Tú	Hubieras habido	You had had
Él / Ella Usted	Hubiera habido	He/She had had You (formal) had had
Nosotros	Hubiéramos habido	We had had
Vosotros	Hubierais habido	You had had
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hubieran habido	They had had You (plural) had had

Haber Imperative Conjugations

In Spanish, we use the imperative mood to command people on what to do or not to do. Because the perfect tenses refer to actions that were already completed or will take place someday, in its auxiliary form, haber cannot be conjugated to the imperative tense.

Additionally, none of the haber impersonal forms (hay, hube, había, etc) can be conjugated to the imperative tenses. This is because you cannot command something to exist.

Meanings of Haber & Examples

Now that you’ve had a chance to learn how to conjugate haber in Spanish, check the following examples of how to use this verb.

As an auxiliary verb in the perfect tenses

[Haber conjugated] + [past participle]

Ya he ido a ese lugar varias veces
I have already gone to that place many times.

Cuando llegamos, el camión ya se había ido.
When we arrived, the bus had already left.

To express existence

[Third person singular of haber] + [determiner] + [noun]

¿Por qué hay tanta gente en la calle?
Why are there so many people on the street?

En unos días, habrá más información.
There will be more information in a few days.

Take Note: Hay is one of the first impersonal forms of haber you’ll learn. However, as you can see in the examples above, you can use these impersonal forms in different tenses in Spanish. In this article, you can check how to use hay in Spanish and other haber forms.

Download Haber Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Haber is one of the most crucial verbs to learn in Spanish since its an auxiliary verb used to build all of the perfect tenses. It’s also an irregular verb in many tenses, which can make it difficult to learn. So, I’ve created a PDF you can download which contains all the haber conjugation charts in the key tenses you need to learn Spanish in today’s day and age. It also contains the uses and real-world example sentences so you can see how to apply it in your conversations.

Download Conjugations PDF

Practice Quiz: Haber Conjugation

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate haber is all its various tenses, you can drill yourself by taking the haber conjugation practice quiz. Once you’ve memorized all of its different forms, you’ll be able to speak Spanish at a much more proficient level.

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