Hay in spanish

Question

So in Spanish, hay means "there is/there are". But (apparently) it also means "I have" in, I don't know which tense or mood. Día malo pero hay que levantarse y seguir. Esto recién empieza. It translates to - "Bad day but you have to get up and go. This is just starting." Why did he use "hay" for 'you have'?

http://www.spanishdict.com/conjugate/haber Even this link that has EVERY form of haber doesn't show "hay" for you have. It does show ha/hay for he has but.. I don't understand!! Please help

welcome to the forum, :) - 006595c6, Aug 15, 2017

Answer 1

Hay que however, is a locution which means: you have to, you must.

As jtaniel said: you is to be taken as a general term for "one must do something".

Hay que comer, hay que beber mucha agua en verano

you must eat, you must drink a lot of water in summer.

Answer 2

Hi Alice!

Haber + que + infinitive is used for "impersonal obligation".

This is very hard to translate in English. You may know that tener + que + infinitive is used for obligation, that is, things that you have to do. For instance, "Tengo que levantarme y seguir".

Haber + que + infinitive works in a very similar way, the difference is that "haber" doesn't refer to a specific person. If you say "tengo que levantarme" is clear that you are talking about a first person singular (subject "yo"); if you say "tienes que levantarte the subject is "you". When you say "hay que levantarse" is a general statement, impersonal, closer to "there is the need of standing up" or "is necessary to stand up".

If you say "hay que hacer el trabajo" it means that the job needs to be done, it doesn't matter who does it. But if you say "Tienes que hacer el trabajo" it means that you have to do it.

Does it make sense?

great answer ) - 006595c6, Aug 15, 2017

:) - Shamelesspanish, Aug 15, 2017

Thank you. I learned something! :-) - Echoline, Aug 15, 2017

I'm glad! - Shamelesspanish, Aug 15, 2017

Thank you so much. I understood really well! - Alice0925, Aug 16, 2017

Answer 3

Hay means there is or there are.

Hay que means an impersonal "have to".

Hay que comer. We have to eat. , I have to eat, they have to eat, people have to eat , one has to eat, a person has to eat. etc. It's impersonal.

Hay que comer bananas People have to eat bananas. You have to eat bananas. One has to eat bananas. Bananas have to be eaten. etc. I's impersonal.

Thank you for replying :))) And btw, the examples are helpful - Alice0925, Aug 16, 2017

Answer 4

How about thinking: "It is necessary"

Hay que estudiar mucho para domininar una lengua extranjera.

Es necesario estudiar mucho para dominar una lengua extranjera.

Both mean essentially the same thing, "It is necessary/one must study a lot to master a foreign language."

Thank you for the new way of looking at it. - Echoline, Aug 15, 2017

Got it! Thanks for the help :) - Alice0925, Aug 16, 2017

Answer 5

Please look up hay que in the translator here.

hay que levantarse is only loosely you have to get up. In English, we sometimes say you have to when we don't mean you specifically; it means one must, as in, it has to be done, but we're not specifying by whom. This is hay que, which (like hay meaning there is/are) is not conjugated.

Thank you for the help! Really appreciate it :) - Alice0925, Aug 16, 2017

Answer 6

Hi Alice, have a look at this dictionary, it is the official Spanish only dictionary and "hay" is mentioned as "impersonal".

conjugation of haber

yo he había

tú / vos has habías

usted ha (impersonal: hay) había

él, ella ha había

nosotros, nosotras hemos habíamos

vosotros, vosotras habéis habíais

ustedes han habían

ellos, ellas han