Gram&aacute;tica: Hay

Gramática: Hay

Close up of side of building with a piece of paper taped to the wall, paper reads "No hay paso" — No Hay Paso by Ron Mader is licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Hay
The verb form - hay - has two meanings: there is there are Ejemplos – Examples: Hay una computadora aquí. / There is a computer here. Hay muchos estudiantes en la clase. / There are many students in the class. Más ejemplos: Hay dos baños en mi casa. / There are two bathrooms in my house. Hay un hombre en la puerta. / There is a man at the door. Hay un libro y un lápiz en la mesa. / There is one book and one pencil on the table. - OR - There is a book and a pencil on the table.
When used in questions, hay has two different meanings: Is there? Are there? Hay is often used in questions with the question words cuánto (how much) and cuántos (how many). Notice that these forms change in number and gender (cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas) to agree with the noun they modify. ¿Cuántos estudiantes hay en la clase? / How many students are there in the class? (masculine plural) ¿Cuántas profesoras hay en Gettysburg College? / How many (female) professors are there at Gettysburg College? (feminine plural) Ejemplos: ¿Hay un libro en tu mochila? / Is there a book in your backpack? ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí? / Are there any books around here? Más ejemplos: ¿Hay muchos estudiantes en la clase? / Are there lots of students in the class? ¿Hay cuatro papeles en la mesa? / Are there four papers on the table? ¿Hay una chica o dos? / Is there one girl or two? The verb form hay can also be used to answer questions. ¿Hay un marcador en la pizarra? / Is there a marker on the board? Sí, sí hay. / Yes, yes there is. ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí? / Are there any books around here? No, no hay. / No, no there aren’t.

Vídeo sobre hay (Señor Jordan, YouTube):

Actividades de conversación

Actividad 1. ¿Qué hay aquí?

What do we have here? Turn to a partner and take turns asking each other the following questions. Be sure to answer each question in a complete sentence, using hay.

¿Qué (What) hay en tu mochila? ¿Qué no hay?
¿Qué hay en el salón de clase? ¿Qué no hay?
¿Qué hay en la pizarra? ¿Qué no hay?
¿Cuántos (How many) estudiantes hay en la clase?

Actividad 2. ¿Qué hay en la clase?

Your mom wants to know what your Spanish classroom is like, so you decide to write her an e-mail. Say whether the following items are in your classroom. If there is more than one, say how many there are. If the item isn’t in the classroom, say so using no hay.

pared
mapa
mesa
computadora
pizarra

Actividad 3. ¿Qué hay aquí?

You are describing your room and classroom to a friend over the phone. Choose the option that appropriately completes each statement with hay or no hay.