Hay cerumen en el conducto auditivo.

Hay is used to say that something exists or is present somewhere: there is / there are.

So Hay cerumen en el conducto auditivo means that earwax is present in the ear canal.

Use está when you are talking about the location of a specific, identified thing. For example:

• El cerumen está en el conducto auditivo. = The earwax is in the ear canal.

That version sounds like you are referring to a particular earwax buildup already being discussed. The original sentence is more natural for a general observation or medical note.

Hay is the present-tense impersonal form of haber.

It means there is or there are, and it does not change for singular or plural:

• Hay cerumen. = There is earwax.
• Hay problemas. = There are problems.

That is different from English, where there is and there are change depending on number.

Because cerumen is being used as a mass noun, like water, dust, or air in English.

In Spanish, mass nouns often appear with no article when you are talking about their presence in a general way:

• Hay agua.
• Hay polvo.
• Hay cerumen.

If you wanted to make it more specific, you could use an article or another determiner:

• El cerumen está seco. = The earwax is dry.
• Hay mucho cerumen. = There is a lot of earwax.
• Hay un poco de cerumen. = There is a little earwax.

Cerumen is correct, but it sounds medical or formal.

In everyday speech, many people would say something more like:

• cera en el oído = earwax in the ear
• tiene cera = he/she has wax

So the original sentence sounds like something a doctor, nurse, or medical report might say.

For a learner, it is useful to know both:

• cerumen = formal/medical
• cera = more everyday

Conducto auditivo means ear canal or auditory canal.

It is more specific than oído, which means ear.

So:

• en el oído = in the ear
• en el conducto auditivo = in the ear canal

The original sentence is anatomically precise, which is another reason it sounds medical.

Spanish normally uses the article with specific body parts and anatomical structures.

So el conducto auditivo means the ear canal.

Also, en + el contracts to en el:

• en + el = en el

You do not say en el if the noun is feminine:

• en la nariz
• en la boca

But here conducto is masculine, so it becomes en el conducto auditivo.

Because the main noun is conducto, and conducto is masculine.

The adjective auditivo has to agree with it:

• el conducto auditivo
• not la conducto auditiva

In Spanish, the noun determines the gender, and the adjective matches it.

Yes. That is simpler and often more natural in everyday conversation.

Compare:

• Hay cerumen en el conducto auditivo. = more precise, medical
• Hay cerumen en el oído. = simpler, less technical

Both are correct. The first one is just more specific.

A simple Latin American-style approximation is:

eye seh-roo-MEN en el kon-DUK-to ow-dee-TEE-bo

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• h in hay is silent
• ay sounds like English eye
• c before e in cerumen sounds like s in Latin America
• v in auditivo sounds very close to b in Spanish
• The stress falls on:
  • ceruMEN
  • conDUCto
  • audiTIvo

Yes. Spanish word order is more flexible than English.

You can also say:

• En el conducto auditivo hay cerumen.

That version puts the location first, which can sound slightly more descriptive or emphatic.

Both are correct. The original order is very normal.

It is grammatical and natural, but it sounds clinical or professional.

A doctor might say it during an exam, or it might appear in a medical note.

In casual conversation, people are more likely to say something like:

• Tiene cera en el oído.
• Hay cera en el oído.
• Tiene mucho cerumen. if they want to sound a bit more formal

So yes, it is natural, but the register is more medical than everyday.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Hay cerumen en el conducto auditivo. = There is earwax in the ear canal.
• Tiene cerumen en el conducto auditivo. = He/She/You have earwax in the ear canal.

So hay just states that the earwax is present.
Tiene connects it to a person or patient.

That is why hay works well in a neutral observation, while tiene is used when the subject is understood or stated.

Grammatically, it is treated as a singular mass noun.

That is why you do not normally pluralize it in this kind of sentence. You usually talk about it the way you would talk about dust or wax in English.

So:

• Hay cerumen. = natural
• Hay mucho cerumen. = natural

A plural form would be unusual in normal usage for this meaning.