Toddler Spanish: Labeling objects

Question

I often verbally label things that my toddler sees throughout the day in both English and Spanish. In English I do this by pointing and saying, "There's a ...", for example, "There's a car", or "There's a dog", or "There's a fan". Would the best way to say this in Spanish be "Hay un carro" or "Ahí está un carro" or "Un carro está ahí" or "Eso es un carro" (or something else I'm not thinking of)? Also, would it be more appropriate to use the definite article in this case, (i.e. "Hay el carro")?

Thank you in advance.

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Aug 2, 2016

Answer 1

For the first words, I would make it as simple as possible especially when you point to the object, ie: Es un coche / es una lámpara / es un perro.

Ah, good idea! Simpler is better for toddlers! - NewMexicanMom, Aug 2, 2016

Answer 2

The structure there is/are is simply taken as hay (from the verb haber) in Spanish. Hence, whenever you want to point something out you just say hay un auto/perro, etc.

For pointing the object out, it's required the indefinite article un. Then,

Hay un carro/auto/coche. (NOT Hay el carro...)
Hay un perro. (NOT Hay el perro.)

Thank you, I thought it would be the indefinite article here as in English. I think the fact that many Spanish children's books label pictures with the definite article caused me to question. - NewMexicanMom, Aug 2, 2016