Há vs Existe vs Tem | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

English says there is and there are, distinguishing singular from plural. Portuguese has three contenders for this job, and picking correctly is an immediate marker of European vs Brazilian Portuguese — and of whether you are in conversational or academic register.

Há (from haver) is the PT-PT default and is invariable — it never takes a plural form. Existe / existem is the more formal, subject-agreeing alternative, common in writing and precise speech. Tem, from ter, is the Brazilian colloquial equivalent and is not standard in European Portuguese, though you will understand it when you hear it. If you want to sound like you are speaking European Portuguese, use há.

The quick answer

Form	Register	Agreement	PT-PT status
há	neutral, all registers	invariable (always singular form)	standard — the default
existe / existem	formal, written, precise	agrees with subject	standard, formal
tem	colloquial	invariable	Brazilian; non-standard in PT-PT

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In European Portuguese, há is always right for "there is / there are." It does not change for plural — há uma pessoa, há dez pessoas, há imensas pessoas all use há. If you write hão, you have made an error.

Há — the PT-PT standard

Há is the third-person singular of haver, used impersonally (with no explicit subject). It means there is or there are and never agrees with what follows.

Há um problema com o teu bilhete.

There's a problem with your ticket.

Há muitas pessoas à espera do autocarro.

There are a lot of people waiting for the bus.

Há pão no frigorífico?

Is there bread in the fridge?

Não há nada para fazer em casa.

There's nothing to do at home.

Notice how há is singular even when followed by a plural noun (muitas pessoas, mais de dez razões). This is because the existential há is grammatically impersonal — the noun that follows is a direct object, not a subject.

Tenses of há

Haver conjugates in every tense but stays singular and invariable in the existential meaning.

Tense	Form	Example
Present	há	Há gente lá fora.
Imperfect	havia	Havia muita neve no alto da serra.
Preterite	houve	Houve um acidente ontem.
Pluperfect	tinha havido / houvera	Tinha havido um erro no sistema.
Future	haverá	Haverá uma reunião amanhã.
Conditional	haveria	Haveria problemas sem a tua ajuda.
Present conjuntivo	haja	É importante que haja respeito mútuo.
Imperfect conjuntivo	houvesse	Se houvesse tempo, íamos ao museu.
Future conjuntivo	houver	Quando houver bilhetes, compro.

Houve um apagão em toda a zona.

There was a power cut across the whole area.

Haverá uma greve de transportes na sexta-feira.

There will be a transport strike on Friday.

Se houvesse mais tempo, fazíamos outra pausa.

If there were more time, we'd take another break.

Quando houver novidades, eu aviso-te.

When there's news, I'll let you know. (future conjuntivo — classic PT-PT)

Existir — the formal, agreeing alternative

Existir means to exist, and it can also do the work of "there is / there are," especially in writing or careful speech. Unlike haver, existir agrees with its subject: the thing that exists.

Existe uma solução, mas é complicada.

(formal) There is a solution, but it's complicated.

Existem muitas razões para desconfiarmos deste argumento.

(formal) There are many reasons to be suspicious of this argument.

Não existe vida em Marte — pelo menos, tanto quanto sabemos.

There is no life on Mars — at least, as far as we know.

Existiram civilizações muito avançadas antes dos romanos.

There existed very advanced civilisations before the Romans.

Existir is preferred in:

Academic and formal writing (philosophical, scientific, legal prose)
Contexts where the "existence" itself is the point rather than mere presence in a location
Abstract subjects (existe uma relação entre estes fenómenos)

In ordinary conversation, há covers most ground; reaching for existir in a casual sentence can sound a touch overblown. Compare:

Há imensa gente no concerto.

There are tons of people at the concert. (normal)

Existem imensas pessoas no concerto.

(correct but feels stiff — like saying 'there exist many people at the concert')

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As a rule of thumb: use há for simple presence or occurrence, existe / existem when you are making a philosophical, scientific, or emphatic claim that something exists.

Tem — the Brazilian cousin you should recognise but not use

In Brazil, ter (to have) is routinely used impersonally for there is / there are:

Tem muita gente aqui.

(Brazilian) There are a lot of people here.

Tem pão no armário?

(Brazilian) Is there bread in the cupboard?

This usage is extremely common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese and in Brazilian pop music, telenovelas, and YouTube content. You will hear it constantly if you consume Brazilian media. It is not standard European Portuguese, though. A PT-PT speaker would register tem gente aqui as brasileiro instantly. In PT-PT, that would be há gente aqui (or, more formally, existem pessoas aqui).

Some learners who have absorbed Portuguese through Brazilian media carry this into their European Portuguese and get gently corrected. Training yourself to reach for há instead of tem in this impersonal sense is a key step in sounding European.

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If you hear yourself saying tem alguma coisa? when you mean is there anything?, swap it for há alguma coisa? to sound European.

Temporal há — ago and for

Há has a second major use: expressing time. It corresponds to English ago when the sentence is in the past, and to for (duration) when the main verb is in the present.

Há + time = ago

Conheci-o há três anos.

I met him three years ago.

Comprámos a casa há uma década.

We bought the house a decade ago.

Ela saiu há cinco minutos — ainda a apanhas se correres.

She left five minutes ago — you can still catch her if you run.

Há + time + que + present = for (duration)

Há três anos que estudo português.

I've been studying Portuguese for three years.

Há quanto tempo moras em Lisboa?

How long have you lived in Lisbon?

Há imenso tempo que não o vejo!

I haven't seen him in ages!

Common confusion: há vs a

In many contexts, há (time ago) and the preposition a collide:

Comprei o carro há um ano. (= I bought the car a year ago)

The *há* form is standard for 'ago'.

Daqui a um ano, terei terminado o curso.

A year from now, I'll have finished the course. (*a* for future distance)

Há points backward from now; a (in daqui a) points forward. Both are used for temporal distance, in opposite directions.

Idiomatic há expressions

These are set phrases you will hear and read constantly:

Expression	Meaning
não há de quê	you're welcome (reply to "thank you")
há que + infinitive	one must / it is necessary to
não há nada a fazer	there's nothing to be done
não há dúvida	there's no doubt
haja o que houver	come what may (lit. may there be whatever there may be)
o que há? / o que é que há?	what's up? what's happening?
não há problema	no problem
há tempos	a while ago

— Obrigada pela boleia. — Não há de quê.

— Thanks for the ride. — Don't mention it.

Há que ter paciência com estas coisas.

One has to be patient with these things.

Haja o que houver, estarei ao teu lado.

Come what may, I'll be by your side.

Não há problema nenhum, podemos remarcar.

No problem at all, we can reschedule.

The double haver in haja o que houver — present conjuntivo + future conjuntivo — is a famously PT-PT turn of phrase with no direct English equivalent.

Across registers: same sentence, three forms

Há muitos problemas neste projeto.

There are many problems in this project. (neutral)

Existem muitos problemas neste projeto.

(formal, emphatic — there *exist* many problems)

Tem muitos problemas neste projeto.

(Brazilian; avoid in PT-PT)

The first is the default; the second is a notch more formal; the third you would not write in PT-PT.

Contrast: há (invariable) vs existe (agreeing)

Aspect	Há	Existe / Existem
Register	neutral, all	formal, written-leaning
Agreement with subject	never — always singular form	yes — existe uma, existem duas
Temporal use ("ago", "for")	yes — há três anos	no
Idiomatic expressions	many (não há de quê, há que)	few
Brazilian equivalent	tem (colloquial)	existir is also standard in BR

Common mistakes

❌ Hão muitas pessoas na sala.

Há is invariable. There is no *hão* in the existential sense — agreement is never with the following noun.

✅ Há muitas pessoas na sala.

There are many people in the room.

❌ Tem alguém à porta.

*Tem* in this sense is Brazilian and non-standard in PT-PT.

✅ Há alguém à porta.

There's someone at the door.

❌ Havem problemas no sistema.

No such form exists. *Há* never pluralises in the existential use.

✅ Há problemas no sistema.

There are problems in the system.

❌ Existe muitas razões para isso.

*Existir* must agree with its subject in the plural.

✅ Existem muitas razões para isso.

There are many reasons for that.

❌ Vi-o a três dias.

For 'ago', you need *há*, not *a*. The preposition *a* marks forward distance (*daqui a três dias*).

✅ Vi-o há três dias.

I saw him three days ago.

❌ Haverão mais bilhetes amanhã.

The future of impersonal haver is *haverá*, singular and invariable.

✅ Haverá mais bilhetes amanhã.

There will be more tickets tomorrow.

❌ Quando existir novidades, aviso-te.

In a temporal clause pointing to the future, PT-PT uses *haver* in the future conjuntivo: *quando houver*.

✅ Quando houver novidades, aviso-te.

When there's news, I'll let you know.

❌ Há três anos, estudo português.

To express duration ('for three years'), you need the *que* that links *há + time* to the verb.

✅ Há três anos que estudo português.