Spanish has two ways to say "there is" or "there are": hay and está/están. They are not interchangeable. The choice depends on whether you are asserting that something exists (hay) or describing where a known thing is located (está / están).
For the basics of hay, see Hay. For estar, see Estar: Uses.
The core distinction: existence vs location
The rule of thumb:
- Hay introduces something new. It asserts that something exists somewhere. The noun is usually indefinite (un, una, unos, unas, or no article).
- Está / están describes where a known or specific thing is. The noun is usually definite (el, la, los, las, a possessive, or a proper name).
Hay un gato en el jardín. El gato está debajo del árbol.
There is a cat in the garden. The cat is under the tree.
The first sentence introduces the cat—you did not know there was one. The second sentence uses the now-known cat as the subject and tells you where it is.
The grammatical rule
Putting it more formally:
- Indefinite noun
- location → hay
- Definite noun
- location → estar
Hay tres estudiantes en la cafetería.
There are three students in the cafeteria.
Los estudiantes están en la cafetería.
The students are in the cafeteria.
In the first sentence, we are telling you about three students whose identity is not specified. In the second, we are talking about a specific group of students we already know about.
Why the difference matters
The choice between hay and estar signals what information is new versus old in the conversation. This is a feature English sometimes marks with stress or word order, but Spanish marks it with the choice of verb.
¿Dónde está mi teléfono? Aquí hay un teléfono, pero no es el tuyo.
Where is my phone? Here is a phone, but it is not yours.
Notice how both verbs appear naturally in the same short exchange. Está asks about a specific phone (mine), while hay introduces some phone—possibly not the one being searched for.
Proper names and possessives: always estar
A subject with a proper name, a possessive adjective (mi, tu, su), or a demonstrative (este, ese, aquel) is by definition specific. It cannot go with hay.
Mi hermana está en México.
My sister is in Mexico.
You cannot say hay mi hermana en México—it sounds strange because mi hermana is already a known, specific person. The correct verb is está.
Similarly, a sentence like hay el libro en la mesa is wrong. With the definite article el, you need está: el libro está en la mesa.
Indefinite nouns: always hay
If the noun is clearly indefinite (especially with a number or the word un/una), you must use hay. You cannot say un libro está en la mesa to mean "there is a book on the table"—it would sound like you are setting up a mystery about which book.
Hay una mosca en mi sopa.
There is a fly in my soup.
Saying una mosca está en mi sopa is grammatical but would imply you already knew about this fly and are now reporting its location, which is weird.
Existential "there" statements
When you use "there is / there are" in English to simply assert existence, without any specific referent in mind, the Spanish is always hay.
Dicen que hay fantasmas en esa casa vieja.
They say there are ghosts in that old house.
None of these subjects are specific, known individuals—so hay is the only option.
Contrast exercise: same sentence, different verbs
These pairs show how switching between hay and estar completely changes the meaning:
Hay niños en el parque. / Los niños están en el parque.
There are (some) children in the park. / The children are in the park.
Hay un restaurante italiano en esta calle. / El restaurante italiano está en esta calle.
There is an Italian restaurant on this street. / The Italian restaurant is on this street.
The hay version is a discovery—you are informing the listener about the existence of the thing. The estar version assumes the listener already knows about the thing and is being told where to find it.
Related Topics
- Hay (There Is / There Are)A1 — Hay is the impersonal form of haber, meaning there is or there are — singular and plural alike.
- Estar: UsesA1 — When to use estar: physical location, temporary states, progressive tenses, and results.
- Impersonal Haber in All TensesB2 — Impersonal haber across every tense: hay, había, hubo, habrá, habría, haya, hubiera, and the compound forms.