Breakdown of Hay que esperar la ambulancia aquí.
aquí
here
haber
to be (there is / there are)
esperar
to wait / to hope / to expect
que
that / than
la ambulancia
the ambulance
Questions & Answers about Hay que esperar la ambulancia aquí.
The translation says "We have to wait", but I don't see any form of "nosotros" or "tener". How does hay que work?
Hay que is used to talk about rules or things that must be done in general, without pointing to a specific person. It literally means something like "one must" or "it is necessary to". In English, we usually translate this general feeling as "we have to" or "you have to". If you wanted to specifically say that we (and not someone else) need to wait, you would use tenemos que instead.
Does hay que always use the infinitive form of the verb after it?
Yes! Just like tener que, the phrase hay que is always followed immediately by an infinitive (an unconjugated verb ending in -ar, -er, or -ir). That is why we use esperar here without changing its ending.
Why isn't there a word for "for" in this sentence, like esperar por?
Should there be a "personal a" before la ambulancia?
No, because the "personal a" is only used when the direct object of a verb is a specific person or a beloved pet. Since la ambulancia is an inanimate object, we don't need it. If you were waiting for the doctor instead, you would say esperar al doctor.
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