Expressing Existence with Haber
The verb haber is irregular in the present tense when used to express existence. In the present tense, the word hay is followed by singular or plural objects to express “there is” or “there are.”
There are many exchange students at the state university.
There is a gypsy dance this weekend.
In other tenses, the third person singular ( él) form of the verb is used regardless of the number of what follows.
Last night there was a storm. (preterite)
There will be another competition tomorrow. (future)
There will be five teams in the tournament. (future)
There would be more but one was cancelled. (conditional)
There was a volleyball game yesterday. (imperfect)
There were many spectators in the gym. (imperfect)
There were many of this group's fans here. (imperfect)
There were many children in the park. (imperfect)
You may hear some Spanish speakers conjugate Haber in plural;
Habían muchos niños en el parque. - There were many children in the park.
This use is incorrect. Regardless of the number of objects present in the sentence, Haber is always conjugated in the third-person singular when functioning as a verb meaning "there is / there are".
There are many books in the library.
There is a book on the table.
There are two baths in my house.
There are 4 oceans in the world.
There is one book and one pen on the table./There is a book and a pen on the table.
When used in questions, "hay" has two different meanings:
Is there?
Are there?
Examples:
Is there a hotel downtown?
Are there any books around here?
Are there lots of students in the class?
Are there 4 chairs in the room?
Is there one girl or two?
The verb form "hay" can also be used to answer questions.
Is there a hotel downtown?
Yes. Yes there is.
Are there any books around here?
No. No there aren't.