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Hay agua en el vaso limpio.

Hay agua en el vaso limpio.
There is water in the clean glass.
From Lesson 32:In and by (en)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Hay agua en el vaso limpio.

How do we know en means "in" here, and not "on" or "at"?
The preposition en is very versatile and can mean "in", "on", or "at". Because we are talking about water and a drinking glass (vaso), context tells us the water is "in" the glass.
Is vaso the Spanish word for "vase"?
No, this is a common "false friend"! A vaso is a glass that you drink out of. If you want to talk about a vase for flowers, you would use a different word, like florero.
Why does the word for clean (limpio) come after the word for glass (vaso)?
In Spanish, describing words (adjectives) usually go after the noun they describe. So instead of saying "clean glass", the order is "glass clean" (vaso limpio).
The word hay means "there is". Does it change if we are talking about plural things?
No, hay is a very handy, unchanging word! It means both "there is" and "there are". You use the exact same word whether you say hay agua (there is water) or hay dos vasos (there are two glasses).
Why don't we say hay el agua?
When you are just saying that an uncountable amount of something exists (like water, milk, or rice), you don't use "the". You just say hay agua, exactly like we say "there is water" in English.

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