Present Indicative of Haver | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb haver is unlike any other verb you have learned so far. While it technically means "to have," it has been almost entirely replaced by ter for possession and auxiliary uses. In modern European Portuguese, haver survives primarily through a single form -- há -- used impersonally to mean "there is / there are" and "ago." This makes haver one of the most important verbs to recognize, even though you will rarely conjugate it across all persons.

Conjugation

Haver is irregular in the present indicative. The full conjugation exists, but in everyday speech and writing, only the third person singular há is used regularly.

Person	Form	English
eu	hei	I have
tu	hás	you have
ele / ela / você	há	he/she has; you have
nós	havemos (hemos)	we have
(vós)	(haveis)	(you all have)
eles / elas / vocês	hão	they have; you all have

The alternative nós form hemos appears in some regional speech and older texts but is not standard. The vós form haveis is archaic. In practice, the only forms you will encounter regularly are há (impersonal) and hei (in the construction hei de + infinitive).

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Do not try to memorize the full conjugation the way you would for ter or ser. Focus on há first -- it covers the vast majority of real-world uses. You can learn the other forms passively as you encounter them in formal writing.

Há -- "there is" and "there are"

The most essential use of haver is the impersonal há, meaning "there is" or "there are." Unlike English, which distinguishes singular and plural, Portuguese always uses há regardless of the number that follows.

Há um problema.

There is a problem.

Há muitas pessoas aqui.

There are many people here.

Não há leite no frigorífico.

There's no milk in the fridge.

Há alguma farmácia perto daqui?

Is there a pharmacy near here?

Because há is impersonal, it never changes form. Even when the noun that follows is plural, the verb stays as há -- never hão. Writing Hão muitas pessoas is a serious grammatical error.

Correct	Incorrect
Há muitos carros na rua.	*Hão muitos carros na rua.
Há duas razões.	*Hão duas razões.
Não há lugares vagos.	*Não hão lugares vagos.

Há -- "ago" and "for" with time

The second major use of há is in time expressions. When placed before a time phrase, há can mean "ago" (with a past-tense verb) or "for" (with a present-tense verb describing an ongoing situation).

Cheguei há dois dias.

I arrived two days ago.

Moro aqui há cinco anos.

I've lived here for five years.

Não o vejo há meses.

I haven't seen him for months.

When the main verb is in the past tense (like cheguei), há means "ago." When the main verb is in the present tense (like moro), há means "for" and implies the situation is still ongoing. Context and verb tense resolve any ambiguity.

Há vs tem -- a key EP distinction

In European Portuguese, há is the correct impersonal form for expressing existence. Using tem in this role -- Tem muita gente aqui instead of Há muita gente aqui -- is a feature of Brazilian Portuguese and sounds distinctly non-European.

European Portuguese	Brazilian Portuguese
Há muita gente aqui.	Tem muita gente aqui.
Não há tempo.	Não tem tempo.
Há um banco ali.	Tem um banco ali.

If you are learning European Portuguese, always use há for "there is / there are." This is one of the clearest grammatical markers that distinguishes EP from BP. For a full comparison, see Ter vs Haver: Complete Comparison.

Há vs à -- spelling trap

The forms há and à are pronounced identically but mean completely different things. Há is the verb haver (there is / ago). À is the contraction of the preposition a with the feminine article a (meaning "to the" or "at the"). Mixing them up is one of the most common spelling errors in Portuguese.

Há uma loja à esquina.

There's a shop at the corner.

Vou à escola.

I go to the school.

In the first example, há is the verb (there is) and à is the preposition contraction (at the). If you write À uma loja or Vou há escola, both are wrong. A quick test: if you can replace the word with "there is" or "ago," it is há. If it means "to the" or "at the," it is à.

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When in doubt, try replacing the word with existe (exists) or faz (in time expressions). If the sentence still makes sense -- Existe uma loja -- then the original word is há. If not, it is à.

Haver de + infinitive -- determination and mild obligation

The construction haver de + infinitive expresses determination, intention, or mild obligation. It is more formal or emphatic than everyday speech but still appears in European Portuguese, particularly for expressing resolve or certainty.

Hei de conseguir!

I shall succeed!

Há de ser assim.

It must be so. / That's how it shall be.

Havemos de voltar a este restaurante.

We must come back to this restaurant.

This construction uses the full conjugation of haver -- hei de, hás de, há de, havemos de, hão de -- and is one of the few contexts where forms beyond há are still actively used.

Haver as an auxiliary -- archaic but recognizable

Historically, haver was the main auxiliary verb for compound tenses in Portuguese, just as haber still is in Spanish. In modern European Portuguese, ter has completely replaced haver in this role. You will never hear hei falado (I have spoken) in contemporary speech -- the standard form is tenho falado.

However, you may encounter haver as an auxiliary in legal texts, literature, or very formal writing. Recognizing it is useful even if you never produce it yourself. For the auxiliary verb you actually need, see Present Indicative of Ter.

Common mistakes

1. Making há agree with a plural noun. Because há is impersonal, it never changes: Há dois gatos, not Hão dois gatos. This rule holds even when the noun is clearly plural. Há is always singular in the existential and temporal senses.

2. Confusing há with à. Remember: há = there is / ago (verb). À = to the (preposition + article). Writing à muito tempo instead of há muito tempo is one of the most widespread errors among native speakers and learners alike.

3. Using tem instead of há in EP. Saying Tem muita gente for "there are lots of people" is Brazilian Portuguese. In European Portuguese, always use Há muita gente.

4. Conjugating haver for possession. Haver does not mean "to have" in the possessive sense. Hei um carro is wrong -- only ter expresses possession: Tenho um carro. Haver has no possessive use in modern Portuguese.

5. Using haver as an auxiliary in speech. Hei feito (I have done) is archaic. The modern form is Tenho feito. Reserve haver as an auxiliary only if you are deliberately writing in a formal or literary register.