If you have ever wondered about the concordance and the correct use of “ha habido” or “han habido”, we are more than sure that you have as advanced a level of Spanish as the actress Anya Tailer-Joy. Who is she?  The star of “Gambito de Dama”. You know it’s one of the most watched Netflix series of the moment, but did you know that Anya spoke such good Spanish?  Anya grew up in Argentina and you did not.  It doesn’t matter.  If you’ve come to ask yourself this question, you’re in a very high Spanish language percentile. So much so that you have the same doubt as many native Spanish speakers. You can find an infinite number of explanatory texts on Google that try to answer this question. We can’t quote them all here because we don’t want to leave out any of them. “Había” or “habían muchas personas”? Fundéu explains that the correct answer is” había muchas personas”. According to the Panhispánico de Dudas dictionary, the agreement is always between subject and verb. And a noun that acts as a complement is not a subject. “Personas”, in this example. We bring to this post twenty phrases to help you clear up your doubts. And finally, you should also use the third person singular in periphrases with the verb “haber”. How would you say? “Va a haber habrá muchas cosas que arreglar” or “van a haber habrá muchas cosas que arreglar”? Work with these examples.

 

We say:

 

1.-  Ha habido contactos. (There have been contacts / Contacts have been made)

 

 

2.- Ha habido muchos más motivos. (There have been many more reasons)

 

 

3.- Solo ha habido informes negativos.  (There have only been negative reports)

 

 

4.- No ha habido explicaciones. (There have been no explanations)

 

 

5.- Ha habido épocas mejores. (There have been better times)

 

 

6.- Ha habido entrenadores muy luchadores. (There have been coaches very feisty)

 

 

7.- Ha habido cambios de horarios.  (There have been schedule changes)

 

 

8.- Ha habido muchas piedras en el camino. (There have been many stones on the road)

 

 

9.- Ha habido informaciones confusas. (There have been confusing reports/informations)

 

 

10.- Más allá de los problemas que ha habido… (Beyond the problems that have been…)

 

 

11.- Pero antes, ha habido más. (But before that, there has been more)

 

 

12.- Ha habido una serie de circunstancias. (There have been a number of circumstances)

 

 

13.- Va a haber muchas reuniones. (There are going to be many meetings / There will be many meetings)

 

 

14.- Va a haber problemas. (There are going to be problems / There will be problems)

 

 

15.- Va a haber dudas. (There are going to be doubts / There will be doubts)

 

 

16.- Habrá muchos cambios. (There will be many changes)

 

 

17.- Habrá muchos premios. (There will be many prizes)

 

 

18.- Habrá muchos regalos. (There will be many gifts)

 

 

19.- Hubo muchos opositores. (There were many opponents)

 

 

20.- Hubo muchos puntos que aclarar. (There were many points to clarify)

 

 

21.- Ha habido jugadores muy buenos de ajedrez. (There have been very good chess players)

 

 

We don’t say:

Han habido contactos

Han habido muchos más motivos

Solo han habido informes negativos

No han habido explicaciones

Han habido épocas mejores

Han habido entrenadores muy luchadores

Han habido cambios de horarios

Han habido muchas piedras en el camino

Han habido informaciones confusas.

Más allá de los problemas que han habido…

Pero antes, han habido más.

Han habido una serie de circunstancias

Van a haber muchas reuniones

Van a haber problemas.

Van a haber dudas.

Habrán muchos cambios

Habrán muchos premios

Habrán muchos regalos

Hubieron muchos opositores

Hubieron muchos puntos que aclarar

Han habido jugadores muy buenos de ajedrez

 

Remind:

– the verb doesn’t agree with the complement when we use the verb “haber” as an impersonal verb, whether it refers to things or to a person.

 

Pía Valls / PracticaEspañol