Haber or Tener
Can anyone explain to me when I should use the verb - Haber - to have instead of the verb Tener - to have Thank you
3 Answers
As jttorbey has said Haber can mean to have but in the sense having done something.
He visto a mi madre - I have seen my mother.
Tener is the verb to have as in,
I have a car - Tengo un coche.
However there is another use of "haber" which is the impersonal use and means something like "there to be", not good English I know, however, some examples which might make it a bit clearer.
Hay - There is/are
Haya - let there be, may there be
habido - there having been
habiendo - there being
había - there was/were (imperfect)
hubo - there was/were (past definite)
habrá - there will be
habría- there would be
ha habido- there has been
había habido - there had been
etc, etc, etc with all the other terms using habido.
I believe there is also a form "ha" used to denote "ago" as in expressions of time, example "mucho tiempo ha" a long time ago.
Haber is more of a I have done something. For instance, Yo he tenido mucha tarea recentamente. I have had much homework lately. That uses both haber and tener. Which might help illustrate the difference. Did that help?
Haber is used with past participles, as Jttorbey said, or to mean "there is" or "there was." It can also be used to mean "have to" as in "hay que tener dinero para ir de vacaciones" or "hay que hacer la tarea todos los días." "Hay que" in this sense would be similar to "tener que."
My daughter's Spanish teacher recently taught her this sentence: "él hubo tres conversaciones con ésta mujer el mes pasado." I was confused! I think it should be "tuvo," unless there is a use of haber that I'm not familiar with.
