difference between he and ha

Question

what is there difference between 'he' eg he estudiado and 'ha' eg ha influenciado?

Hi, welcome to the forum! - rac1, Dec 5, 2012

Answer 1

Both come from the verb 'haber' and both are present tense conjugations of this verb:

he = I have

has = you (tú) have

ha = you, he, she, it has

hemos = we have

han = they have

The verb haber is most commonly used to form part of a perfect tense and these present forms, together with a past participle (a Spanish word ending in -ado or -ido) form the present perfect.

Eg: Haber (have) Comer (eat)

He comido. I have eaten.

Has comido. You (tú) have eaten.

Ha comido. You (usted) have eaten. S/He/It has eaten.

Hemos comido. We have eaten.

Han comido. They have eaten.

Haber (have) Hablar (speak)

He hablado. I have spoken.

Has hablado. You have spoken.

Ha hablado. You (usted) have spoken. S/He/It has spoken.

Hemos hablado. We have spoken.

Han hablado. They have spoken.

So for your examples:

he estudiado = I have studied

ha influenciado = you have / s/he, it has influenced (you can usually tell which one of these is being referred to by the context, if not you can use the personal pronoun too.

él ha influenciado = he has influenced

ella ha = she has

usted ha = you have, etc

Do be aware though that the verb 'haber' (where 'he' and 'ha' come from), although it can mean 'have' or 'has' is not the verb that refers to possession, for that you use tener.

tengo = I have

Tengo una manzana. I have an apple.

Tienes = you (tú) have

Tienes una manzana. You have an apple/

etc

Answer 2

He is first person singular.

I studied it. Lo he estudiado.

Ha is 3rd person singular or 2nd person formal singular.

He studied it. Lo ha estudiado.

Have you (formal) already studied? Ya ha estudiado?