estar/ser o haber?

Question

Sometimes I use to be (in Spanish) when I should use the verb haber. CONFUSED :S

Welcome to the forum, :) - 00494d19, Dec 2, 2011

Answer 1

The verb "haber" is typically used to specify existence, as opposed to stating where or what something is (or to describe it). Thus, "Hay tres libros en la mesa. " = "There are three books on the table." (vs. "Los tres libros estan en la mesa." / "Los tres libros tratan de la historia." ("The three books are on the table." / "The three books are about history.").

English overloads all three meanings on the verb "to be" but (at least some) other languages use different verbs for the different meanings.

Answer 2

Sometimes I used to be (in Spanish) when I should use the verb haber.

You will probably be further confused about this, but to say the above you would say

A veces solía estar/ser (followed by a phrase)

Or possibly

A veces estaba/era (followed by a phrase).

Haber would not be a possibility here. Haber is only used when there is no subject, and in this there is a subject - "I".

To choose between ser and estar, as feliz pointed out, more context is needed.

Jeremias great post but Iam not sure if Andy wants you to help translate his sentence above as you have done or to simply point out that he is experiencing difficulty knowing when to use each of these verbs :) - FELIZ77, Dec 2, 2011

Jeremias, his request could also be read/understood this way with some punctuation: Sometimes I use, [the verb] 'to be'' (in Spanish) when I should use the verb haber. CONFUSED :S - FELIZ77, Dec 2, 2011

"haber" should also be in quotes. However, Feliz, your point is well taken. - samdie, Dec 2, 2011

Answer 3

Jeremías , the posted wanted to say the use of "to be" and to have

Have a look at this, Andy

All about ser y estar

Now why didn't I think of posting a link? lol duh - FELIZ77, Dec 2, 2011

Answer 4

Hello Andy and welcome to the SpanishDict forum

I understand your confusion in part but could you kindly give us some examples of when you confuse the use of these verbs. In order to best help you we need some context so if you could give us some examples of:

1 When you confuse the use of these verbs and ...

2 What you are attempting to say in Spanish,(that is: providing us with the English translation) then we could really go places! We could really help you!

We are here to help you and would like to help you but context is so important! Infact it is not possible to underestimate its importance in determining the meaning of specific words, translating whole sentences, and deciding when to use particular verbs in preference to others!

I hope this helps

Answer 5

Hey guys, thanks but I just relaised I was making a silly mistake