Learn Spanish (Latin America): En una emergencia, hay que actuar rápido.

En una emergencia, hay que actuar rápido.

In an emergency, one has to act fast.

Breakdown of En una emergencia, hay que actuar rápido.

to be (there is / there are)

Questions & Answers about En una emergencia, hay que actuar rápido.

Why use hay que instead of tienes que here?

Hay que is an impersonal phrase, meaning it doesn't point to any specific person. It translates to "one has to," "people have to," or "it is necessary to." If we used tienes que, it would specifically mean "you have to," but this sentence is a general rule that applies to everyone.

Why is actuar in its infinitive form?

The phrase hay que is always followed immediately by an infinitive (the base dictionary form of the verb, like actuar). You never conjugate the verb that comes right after hay que.

Shouldn't "quickly" be rápidamente instead of rápido?

You can definitely say rápidamente (quickly), but in everyday Spanish, it's extremely common to just use rápido to mean "fast." It works just like English, where we often say "act fast" instead of "act quickly."

Does actuar mean "to act" in a play or "to take action"?

Both! Just like the English word "act," actuar can mean performing in a movie or theater, but in this context, it means "to take action" or "to behave in a certain way."