LearnModule 1 · Lesson 15 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 3 · Counting and colors

Hay — there is, there are

Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 15 of 30: Hay says both "there is" and "there are" — it never changes: Hay un libro. On this page: 11 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.

The words

Spanish	English	Say it
hay	there is / there are	eye
hay dos sillas	there are two chairs	eye dohs SEE-yahs
¿qué hay en la mochila?	what is in the backpack?	keh eye ehn lah moh-CHEE-lah
en	in	ehn
la cocina	the kitchen	lah koh-SEE-nah
el dormitorio	the bedroom	ehl dohr-mee-TOH-ryoh
el jardín	the garden	ehl har-DEEN
la pared	the wall	lah pah-REHD
la foto	the photo	lah FOH-toh
el reloj	the clock	ehl rreh-LOH
la lámpara	the lamp	lah LAHM-pah-rah

Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La regla · The rule

Hay says both "there is" and "there are" — it never changes: Hay un libro. Hay dos sillas. The number after it does the work.

Y también · And also

Combined with your numbers and nouns it describes any room, bag or picture. ¿Qué hay en la mochila? asks "what is in the backpack?".

Ojo · Watch out

hay is both there is and there are: hay un gato, hay dos gatos. One word, singular or plural — and it sounds exactly like the English word eye.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 11 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with hay.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 15 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.

This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.

Keep these words

Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.

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