the verb haber

Question

"Hoy cuando abrí la puerta, había tres paquetes.

Why is it había and not habíaN?

Answer 1

Because all the forms of "hay" are used in third person singular form only, even when followed by a plural noun. (Such as paquetes.)

Hay - present

Había - Imperfect

Habrá - Future

Hubo - Preterite

Haría - Conditional

Haya - Present Subjunctive

Hubiera - Imperfect Subjunctive

Answer 2

Because in the present tense you would say "hay tres paquetes". It's only one form in every tense to say there is/are, there was/were, there will be, etc. The same form for singular and plural.