Learn Spanish (Latin America): El sofá está en la sala, pero aquí hay una silla. - The sofa is in the living room, but here there is a chair.

We use está (is located) when we are talking about the location of a specific object we already know about, like el sofá (the sofa). We use hay (there is / there are) to introduce an unspecific object, like una silla (a chair). If we wanted to say "the chair is here", we would use está and say la silla está aquí.

Wait, doesn't sofá end in -a? Why does it use the masculine word el?

You are right that most Spanish words ending in -a are feminine, but sofá is an exception! It is a masculine word, so it always uses masculine words like el (the) or un (a). It is one of those rule-breakers you just have to memorize.

Why does está have an accent mark on the last letter?

The accent mark tells you to put the pronunciation stress on the last syllable: es-TÁ. It also helps tell the verb está (is) apart from the word esta (without an accent), which means "this" (as in esta silla, meaning "this chair").

Can I say hay una silla aquí instead of aquí hay una silla?