Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Dice que hay que ser paciente para ver crecer las plantas. - She says that one has to be patient to see the plants grow.

In Spanish, the subject pronoun is often dropped when the meaning is clear from context, because the verb ending usually shows who is doing the action.

Dice by itself literally just means “(he/she/it/they/you-formal) says”. It’s ambiguous on purpose. Depending on the context, it can mean:

He says
She says
They say
You (formal) say
It says (for example: En el libro dice que… = The book says that…)

So in this sentence, Dice que… is something like “He/She/They say that…” or even “It says that…”, and context (the rest of the conversation) tells you who “says” it is.

What exactly does hay que mean, and where does it come from?

Hay que + infinitive is a very common impersonal way to express necessity or obligation. It roughly means:

one has to …
you have to … (in a general sense)
it is necessary to …

It comes from the verb haber (to have) in its impersonal form hay (there is / there are).

So:

hay que ser paciente ≈ one must be patient / you have to be patient

No specific person is mentioned; it’s a general rule or recommendation.

What is the difference between hay que and tener que or deber?

All three express necessity/obligation, but they differ in who the obligation applies to and in tone.

hay que + infinitive
- Impersonal, general obligation.
- No specific subject.
- Hay que ser paciente = You/one must be patient (in general).
tener que + infinitive
- Personal obligation; you specify who.
- Tengo que ser paciente = I have to be patient.
- Tenemos que ser pacientes = We have to be patient.
deber + infinitive
- Also personal, often a bit more moral or advisory: should/ought to.
- Debes ser paciente = You should be patient.

In the original sentence, hay que is used because it’s giving a general rule about plants and patience, not talking about any specific person.

Why is it ser paciente and not estar paciente?

Spanish distinguishes ser and estar:

ser is used for more permanent or defining characteristics
estar is used for states or conditions (often temporary)

Paciente here is being treated as a general quality you’re supposed to have in this situation. Spanish uses ser with that kind of trait:

Hay que ser paciente = You have to be (a) patient (person).
Using estar paciente would sound odd; it would suggest a temporary “state of patience,” and even then, people very rarely say that.

So for the idea of “being a patient person / behaving patiently,” ser paciente is the natural choice.

Why is paciente singular if las plantas is plural?

Paciente is not describing las plantas. It’s describing the (general) person who is waiting for the plants to grow.

The structure is:

hay que ser paciente → someone (you/one/people) must be patient
para ver crecer las plantas → in order to see the plants grow

So:

The (implicit) person = singular → ser paciente (singular)
The plants = plural → las plantas (plural)

Also, paciente looks the same for masculine and feminine; only number changes:

singular: paciente
plural: pacientes

Why is it para ver crecer las plantas and not para ver las plantas crecer?

Both orders are possible and correct:

ver crecer las plantas
ver las plantas crecer

Spanish often prefers ver + infinitive + object:

ver crecer las plantas
oír cantar a los pájaros
sentir temblar el suelo

But you can say ver las plantas crecer as well. The meaning is basically the same. The original version just follows a very common, natural pattern: ver + [infinitive] + [object].

Why is crecer in the infinitive instead of something like crecen or crezcan?

There are two important rules here:

After verbs of perception like ver, oír, sentir, it’s extremely common to use an infinitive for the action being perceived:
- ver crecer las plantas = to see the plants grow(ing)
- oír llorar al bebé = to hear the baby cry(ing)
After para, if the subject is the same (or generic/impersonal like with hay que), Spanish normally uses para + infinitive, not a conjugated verb:
- Hay que ser paciente para ver crecer las plantas.

If you conjugate crecer (for example para ver que las plantas crecen), that changes the structure and sounds less natural here, and adds an extra que. The infinitive version is simpler and more idiomatic.

Could we say para ver que las plantas crecen or para ver cómo crecen las plantas instead?

para ver que las plantas crecen
Grammatically possible, but less natural here. It feels like: “in order to see that the plants are growing,” emphasizing the fact that they grow.
para ver cómo crecen las plantas
Very natural and common. It means: “to see how the plants grow,” adding a bit of focus to the way or process of their growth.

The original para ver crecer las plantas is a neutral, compact way to say “to see the plants grow.”

Why is it para and not por before ver crecer las plantas?

Para is used here because it introduces purpose:

para ver crecer las plantas = in order to see the plants grow

In general:

para + infinitive → purpose, goal:
Estudio para aprender. = I study in order to learn.
por + noun/infinitive often expresses cause, reason, or means:
Lo hice por necesidad. = I did it because of necessity.
Lo hice por ayudar. = I did it in order to help (but with a nuance of motivation).

In this sentence we are clearly talking about the goal of being patient, so para is the correct preposition.

Why do we say las plantas (with las) instead of just plantas?

Spanish normally uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) with nouns when talking about things in general:

Las plantas necesitan agua. = Plants need water.
Los perros son leales. = Dogs are loyal.

So las plantas here means plants in general or the plants (that you are growing), depending on context. In either case, Spanish prefers the article.

Saying just plantas would usually sound incomplete, as if something is missing (for example, ver crecer plantas bonitas → see pretty plants grow, where plantas is modified).

Why is the verb after que not in the subjunctive? Why not que haya que ser paciente or something with subjunctive?

Subjunctive in Spanish depends on meaning, not just on the presence of que.

In Dice que hay que ser paciente, the speaker is simply reporting what someone says as a statement of fact or advice. There is no doubt, wish, or emotion being expressed about the clause hay que ser paciente; it’s just being quoted/relayed.

Compare:

Dice que hay que ser paciente.
He/She says that you have to be patient. (reporting content → indicative)

We normally use the subjunctive after verbs that express desire, doubt, emotion, etc., over the action in the next clause. For example:

Quiere que seas paciente. (He wants you to be patient.)
Duda que seas paciente. (He doubts that you are patient.)

So after Dice que… with simple reported information, hay (indicative) is correct and natural.

Could we say Dice que uno tiene que ser paciente para ver crecer las plantas instead of hay que?

Yes, you can. That version is perfectly grammatical and clear:

Dice que uno tiene que ser paciente para ver crecer las plantas.
= He/She says that one has to be patient to see the plants grow.

Differences:

hay que is impersonal and very common in speech: more compact and neutral.
uno tiene que also expresses a general obligation, but uno is more explicit and can sound a bit more formal or careful.

In everyday Latin American Spanish, hay que ser paciente is extremely natural and frequent.

Could we reorder the sentence, for example: Dice que para ver crecer las plantas hay que ser paciente?

Yes, that word order is also correct and natural:

Dice que hay que ser paciente para ver crecer las plantas.
Dice que para ver crecer las plantas hay que ser paciente.

Both mean the same. Spanish allows quite a bit of flexibility in placing hay que… and para + infinitive clauses, especially in spoken language. The main thing is that the clause with para ver crecer las plantas still clearly expresses purpose.